


Surface

by forlornTimekeeper



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Developing Relationship, Dib/Gaz mention, Eventual Smut, Exile Redemption, F/M, Feels, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, I swear to god the plot is legit and i'll try not to be a disappointment, Mostly Fluff, Out of Character, POV First Person Female OC/Third Person Omniscient, Sexy Times, mild language in various dialects, plot twists unknown to author, slight child and alcohol abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-06
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2017-12-28 13:38:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 55,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/992607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forlornTimekeeper/pseuds/forlornTimekeeper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She was living day by day with a less than desirable family situation. He was doing everything he could to redeem himself in the eyes of his Tallest. She was trying to finish High School in one piece and with her piece of mind. He was trying to continuously fly under the radar while also being the constant center of attention. And somehow, the Universe decided that the two of them just... clicked.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> POV - Avery  
> (The first few chapters will be like this, sorry to anyone who hates me for it.)

Going to school is something all teenagers complain about, right? The ignorant weeaboos who think they’re Japanese, the smelly jocks that take advantage of the scrawny beanpoles, and the swarm of the stupidest, most annoying fan girl club the world had ever known. That’s what us “normal” kids (and by normal I mean those who don’t belong to either of those mentioned sects) deal with on a daily basis.

 So as I walked up the steps and shouldered my way through the front doors, I quickly found my best and only friend in the whole school, attaching myself to her immediately. “Can you believe we still have five more months of this, Jade? I hope college doesn’t suck as many brain cells out of me as High School has.”

 Jade, who was of the African American minority in the school, laughed loudly and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, guiding us down the hall. “Girl, listen to me. Most of these kids won’t even be considered for a _job at Wal-Mart_ , much less college. I don’t think we’ll see most of these losers after the end of the year.”

 And God I hoped she was right, because the squad of fangirls that rounded the corner in front of us was full speed ahead to the front doors. They were early this morning.

 Every day, at around 7:45, the object of their obsession enters the building, and God forbid you get in their way. I’ve seen kids trampled and bulldozed over because of these freaks, I’m surprised student services hasn’t said anything to them simply because of the amount of weekly casualties. Once they’ve congregated they form an amoeba around him, following him to first period before they’re shooed away. I don’t get what the big deal is, he’s not like… well, he is kinda hot. But so were other guys, so I couldn’t place what made him special.

 “Um, excuse you!”

 I looked up, catching the eye of a member of the freak squad. “Yes?”

 “Watch where you stare! Zim isn’t worth your peasant gaze!” She loomed over me by about a good four to five inches, which doesn’t make her very tall considering I’m only five foot to begin with.

 Jade gently wedged herself between the two of us, smiling acidically at the deranged girl. “You’ll have to forgive her, she’s just tryin’ to figure out why y’all are so stupid.”

 Ouch. That was a bad move. Jade, please try not to get me killed this early in the morning.

 The blonde cake-face turned red and she reared up to spit venom in our faces or something, her facial features doing interesting contorting things. “I’ll have you know that our cause is noble and justified! There is nothing stupid about it!”

 As Jade opened her mouth to shout back I steered her around the crazed bitch and into our classroom, smiling cheekily as we went past. I didn’t want to have any more to do with her, lest I lose another IQ point or two. As we sat down we could hear a strangled scream of annoyance come from our assaulter. Oh yeah, we had first period with Mr. Popular himself.

 Actually, I use these terms loosely, he’s actually not as much of a dick as a lot of other pops are, but I don’t really know him, so he’s still mostly a dick as far as I’m concerned. I wouldn’t even go so far as to call us acquaintances, I doubt he knows my name, he’s never used it when we exchange the occasional “your harem is creepy” “yeah I know”. That’s not to say he’s a bad person, I’ll just never know simply because I’ll never care to know.

 The first class of the day is English, which makes me pretty happy since it’s one of my strong subjects and I don’t have to be very awake to get anything done. I’m also a teacher’s pet in this class so I get extra brownie points for that, too.

That class usually goes by pretty quickly, and before I know it I’m off to second period, drawing. I’m a pet in here too, simply because nobody at this school knows their ass from their nose, and that’s a pretty obvious distinction, or so one would think. Doesn’t really surprise me considering how many kids _have_ their noses up their asses.

 Next is lunch, which I have to spend watching the Harem ogle at Zim from the other side of the room. It’s seriously creepy, when you get right down to it. Most of them aren’t really anything to look at, a few would be considered lookers by society, but I doubt any of them had ever had a boyfriend before anyway. How they expected to get his attention, after many previously rejected attempts, I’ll never know. That’s the definition of insane, isn’t it?

 After lunch I get to kick my own ass in yearbook, since not many people in there are competent enough to even figure out how the program we use works. This class in and of itself is a sort of nightmare, and I get to do the majority of the leadership jobs. I’m lucky Jade is in there with me, otherwise I might take the staple remover and shove it up someone’s-

 “Hey, yo, Avery! Girl, you better stop daydreamin’, we got work to do!” Jade elbowed me in the ribs and quickly brought me out of my horrific fantasies. She glared at me from around the computer tower next to me, since they were set up on the tables between seats, which theoretically would help keep people to their own devices. I grumbled through the rest of that class until my last period of the day, French.

 Ironically I had Harem boy in here, too, which was always sort of a hoot. For whatever reason he was way good at this subject, almost like learning a foreign language was as natural as breathing to him. On some levels it irritated me, simply because I couldn’t figure out how he caught on so fast. On another level it gave me a challenge, since otherwise I’d be the only one in there that knew more than ‘bonjour’ and ‘merci’.

 By the time the teacher gets fed up with the majority of the class, the bell rings and we’re let out to go home. Today was Tuesday, so that meant practice. I had to stay after school for another hour and a half before I got to go home.

 Recently the afterschool Irish dance club became an actual year round class, and now there’s a sort of Irish dance team, like our Hip Hop team. It’s not too popular, we’ve only got eight members including me, but they’re just about the only other people besides Jade I can tolerate. But I’m sure yelling at them to kick their butts harder helps, too.

 Today’s meeting was mostly planning for the upcoming performance in May, whether or not we were doing soft or hard shoe, what our theme should be, et cetera. Boring, really. Since Hip Hop has their meeting on Tuesdays too, we share the large theater (which doubles as our cafeteria), and unless we’re dancing, I’m watching them.

 Sometimes it’s hard to say if Harem boy is popular for his looks or his moves, but either way he’s sufficient in both departments. Tall and thin, spiked black hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a winning smile. What’s not to like, right? And he’s got the classic toned but not thick build that every girl is into. I swear, he’s a walking cliché. Total Gary-Sue.

 But that doesn’t mean I don’t like watching him. He’s really good.

 “Mrs. G! Y’all want the stage?”

 Did I mention his voice is like an eargasm? Seriously, someone give this kid some flaws.

 “Are you boys done? We’re really just talking about showcase.” Mrs. G, a short and rounder woman of about 43, smiled back and shrugged.

 Zim stepped off the stage and pointed his crew to the audience seats. “It’s all good, Mrs. G. We’re just working on basics. Besides, I hear you all have something new?”

 The girls in the group giggled and hid their eyes shyly, which really irritated me somehow. I stood up and, dusting off my sports kilt, brushed past them all and walked up to the fellow Senior. “What? Someone spoutin’ off secrets again?” I gave him a smirk.

 He only laughed at me and put his hands on his hips, letting his shoulders bounce. “Nah, was just an excuse to get you all up there so we can take a break and watch. ‘Sides, I’m sure y’all get tired of watching us show off~.” He winked at me like I was just some other girl and stalked off, returning to his group.

 Every girl behind me either swooned or growled at me. I, for one, didn’t care. Nor did I care for the way he treats me sometimes. I mean, he’s not like one of those who’ll only talk to certain people, he’ll talk to anybody. But he treats them all the same, especially the ones who don’t act like the whores in his harem. Hence why I call him a dick.

 As far as the ‘something new’ he was talking about, it was probably our routine for road shows. Some of our performing classes, like dance or our theater groups, go on road shows to other schools, basically showing off to get people interested in attending. The only reason our low budget school bothers is because it helps bring in new victims, which ups the cash flow and supposedly helps our budget cut problem. It’s all useless ploys if you ask me.

 But I really did like the routine, all but the whole beginning section, which was the pain-in-my-ass-four hand reel. But we only had four people good enough for the road show, and the four hand is pretty alright for people who haven’t ever seen it. The rest of it is all formation changes and sassy high kicks, with a hard shoe solo in the end for me (which means I get to be offstage for a good thirty seconds).

 My irritation flared briefly as he passed me, and if I hadn’t been so weak or slow in my upper body (because by God my legs could knock a man down) I might have taken a swipe at him. Instead, I stepped onto the stage and waited for the rest of my group. “Road show, should be on our CD. Please and thank you.” I waited for Mrs. Gretchen to start our track and let myself have one last glare at the cliché before I ignored him.

 Once the music began my entire body language changed, I could feel it. It happens every time I get serious about my dancing, and believe me. I’m serious about it. People laugh at me when I practice in the hall, but after I did a point and up at someone’s jaw, knocking them over, people stopped throwing around insults quite so freely. But as I readied on five, pointed on seven, and rose to my toes on eight, I became solely aware of me and the other three, nothing else.

 Keep your dancer’s center, legs straight, feet pointed, knees down, chin up, kick your butt, and don’t stop smiling, even when it hurts. We circled each other, backtracked, square sevens, switch sevens, wheel, ladies down the line, chain, figure eight, circles, and whip around. We finished the four hand and I skipped backstage where my hard shoes were waiting. I yanked the knots undone, threw off my soft shoes and pulled on my Rutherford’s. After I got those tied I stood and stretched them out, standing on my heel, my toes, and then point.

 This next part I was actually kind of excited for, since I’m better at hard shoe (somehow) and I can dance it while getting really cocky, of course while maintaining perfect footwork. Whenever I get the chance I sort of rub my talent into Harem boy’s face. I know it’s petty, and he betters my skill level in Hip Hop, but still. I can’t help it.

 I peeked onto the stage where the other three were dancing, two eight counts left. My heart raced and I stretched my shoes one last time. One eight… four counts… two… and I was back on stage.

 Trebles to the front, in place while the girls took formation, and then they switched, trebled with me, up and kick, and they fell back, clapping as they stood by the back wall. I trebled four more times, then up, back, point and up, again, step, jump kick my heel, step and brush, one, two, three, treble up, treble hop, back. Switch feet and again.

 I smiled harshly, my gaze directed at Zim as he sat with his crew. He smirked back, trying to seem unimpressed I’m sure, but the other boys watched with awe and leaned forward in their seats, if only slightly. One of their faces turned red as the beat slowed and I did a series of kick and ups, holding them in the air briefly before switching and repeating. I wasn’t wearing my outfit or anything, just tights and dance shorts, but the look on his face was so amusing I almost wish I had been wearing my competition dress.

 As the music came to an end I did one last kick and up, treble, and step, making that last note as loud as I could. Then I extended my right leg, pointed my foot, and took my bow, keeping my eyes locked on the target of my vicious stepping. When I stood back up I turned on my heel and stalked off the stage, waving my hand and saying, “Do sheal,” which translates more or less to ‘your turn, impress me’ with my added attitude. If I haven’t mentioned, I do speak fluent Gaelige, and I do use it often. It comes in handy when you really want to insult someone, but when you say it really nicely they never suspect you said anything harsh or evil.

 I took my seat at our table and kicked off my hard shoes, sprawling in the chair with my elbow on the table and my chin propped up. The others stood and, at the waving of my hand to hurry up, jogged onto the stage. I peered over at the girls who decided to pull up their chairs and lean on the edge of their seats. Typical. Even the way they breathed was them trying to get his attention; it was almost like their boobs had minds of their own.

 The crew took formation and Mrs. Gretchen picked up Zim’s iPod, scrolling through his playlist to find whatever it was they had requested. It was probably Korean or Japanese pop, which was what, apparently, took up the majority of his storage space. I swear, everything but his eyes seemed slightly Asian to me. His build, his moves, his hair. He looked like one of the guys from a K-Pop boy band. I need to start keeping tallies of his clichés, maybe I can rub them in his face one day, just for a laugh.

 This particular number had very few formation changes, but lots of fancy footwork. I took that a little personally, I could tell he was taking a jab at me. ‘Oh yeah? I can make my feet do fancy hoppity things too!’ is what I imagined him saying. Jerk. Maybe I made him out to be a bigger jerk in my mind than he really was, but whatever.

 I happened to come out of my daydreaming when they did a collective body roll, and I made the mistake of looking right at him. He locked his eyes with mine and smirked. That god awful suggestive smirk that he does. Jesus. I may not care for him, but if I could have just that smile I’d be good. But he didn’t know that, no matter how red my face turned. Like I said, I’m not interested, not as a whole, but there are some things…

 For the rest of their number I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn’t look at him, not after that. I had to fight myself to tear my eyes from his hips when they did a styled chasse downstage. I really hope he didn’t notice as I pointedly crossed my legs and folded my arms, I had a feeling that if he did he’d say something. As they hit their final eight count I glanced at my watch, two minutes after six, technically practice was over, and I was going to take full advantage of that fact.

 “Thanks, Mrs. G,” Zim called, jumping off the front of the stage and heading over to retrieve his iPod while he tried desperately to ignore the shy giggles and slightly suggestive sighs from the Irish Team. Before he got halfway to her I was already out of my seat, shoes in hand.

 “Well, it’s six, I have to go home and finish up a paper,” Lie. “And then help my mom around the house,“ Also a lie. “She hasn’t been feeling well, not sure if I can even make it to school tomorrow,” Wow, I was just full of ‘em tonight. “See you next week!” I didn’t wait for a response, I just hauled ass through the doors and down the hall. I didn’t run, that would make it obvious I lied to get out of something, but I walked as fast as my sore feet would take me. And evidently, it wasn’t fast enough. Damn.

 “Hey wait!”

 I kept walking, at this point I must’ve been stomping, because I was irritated and I just wanted to get home and hide in my room. “Cac.” That came out as a more of a guttural ‘shit’, but it matched my mood exquisitely.

 “What’s the sudden rush?” He came up beside me to my right, I got the feeling he could tell I was irritated and wanted to be as far away from my Rutherford’s as he could get. Smart move.

 I blew a strand of hair from my face, trying to whip it around so it wouldn’t sit on the frames of my glasses. “Didn’t you hear? I have things to get done tonight.” Ouch, that was pretty nasty sounding.

 Zim side stepped me and turned around, jogging backwards so that he could face me and talk. Damn, since when has he had so much to say to me? “Yeah okay, but you seem irritated… You’re usually so peppy after practice.”

 Dear God, has he been paying attention to me? “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

 “Now hold on,” he said, stopping in front of me quick enough to where I almost ran into him.

 I groaned, “What?”

 He folded his arms and peered down at me, he must have been a good foot taller or so. “What’s the matter?”

 “None of your business.”

 “I know, but still… Don’t you wanna talk about it? I hear that makes people feel better.” He added a ‘genuine’ smile at the end of that statement, and I wasn’t entirely sure if he meant it or not. “I could walk you home, or we could-”

 I put my free hand on his chest and pushed him aside. “Dude, not interested.” I only took two steps past him before he shoved me against the wall and barred one arm over my shoulders. “Whoa hey!”

 His face changed real quick, and he suddenly didn’t seem so nice, but more cautious in that angry ‘I’m going to make sure you’re not playing with me’ sort of way. He leaned in real close to my face and breathed down my neck, making a sort of low, growling noise.

 I then realized he had somehow wedged one of his legs between the two of mine and I suddenly did not like how suggestive this situation had gotten. I squirmed a little and tried to tell him off, but I squeaked instead. Dumb hormones. Like I said, I don’t care for him, but I have teenage tendencies just like the rest of my age group.

 The next sensation I was made aware of was his tongue running along my jaw line. Yep, I was not okay with this.

 “Now tell me you aren’t interested,” he demanded, but not harshly. Just pointedly.

 I was vaguely aware of the pressure between my legs being lifted and I backed up my right knee against the wall, then brought it up as hard as I could. While he was stunned I slinked under his arm and around his body, giving us a good five feet of space. “What the hell were you doing?”

 He took a second to compose himself, then peered over his arm at me, a huge shit eating grin on his face. “You really aren’t all that interested, are you?”

 “Hell no!” I was so confused. “But why did you have to shove me up against a wall to prove that!?”

 Zim righted himself and pulled down his shirt, making it seem like I hadn’t just kneed him in the crotch. “You know, I’ve talked to just about every girl in this school, and I can’t stand any of them. And all of the ones that tell me they aren’t interested only lie to me, probably just to try and get closer to me. I don’t know.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and quirked a corner of his mouth. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t.”

 I kind of felt bad, I mean I guess it would suck if you had people telling you one thing all the time and they always seemed to lie to you, so I supposed I couldn’t blame him for testing me, just to be sure. “Well, I’m not lying. And I’m sorry that so many people do.” In that moment I felt a little awkward. I didn’t know if I should stick around, but I had a feeling I’d feel shallow later if I just left him there.

 After we stood around for a good ten seconds he walked back up to me and smiled. “I’ll still offer to walk you home.”

 “Can you walk?” I couldn’t help myself, it was a funny joke. At least to me. He must’ve thought it was a little funny, too, with the fake glare masking his smile and the slight shake of his head.

 “That really fucking hurt,” he said, narrowing his eyes further.

 The smile on my face must’ve showcased my pride.”Good! I’d be a little disappointed if it didn’t!” That time I don’t think he laughed, even internally, but I did.

 So the day wasn’t quite so bad, and I certainly wasn’t as sore as I thought I’d be, which is always a happy thing. I also found out something new about Harem boy, and that usually pleases me, simply because he’s so much of a mystery to everyone. Turns out he’s not as much of a dick as I thought he was, and most of his actions are pretty justified.

 All in all, a good day I think. I just hope my mom wasn’t home. That would inevitably turn my day to shit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> POV - Avery  
> (Hopefully the next two chapters will the be the last for her point of view.)

The walk home was fairly quiet, I didn’t offer up anything about why I had gotten so cross, and I didn’t feel like coming up with some clever questions for him either. So most of it was small talk, just so that we didn’t have to walk completely in awkward silence all the way to my house. However, I did manage to find out that the only reason he’s so good in French is because he already knows the language, fluent speaking and all. When I asked why he didn’t say anything, he just told me he felt the need to learn it on his own, and only took the class because it was an easy ‘A’, one less thing for him to worry about.

As we rounded the corner and I could see my house I spotted my mom’s car in the driveway. “Alright, this is as far as you go.”

Zim eyed me and peered over my head, looking around at the houses and down the street. “Why? Over protective parents?”

I shook my head. “No, my mom doesn’t like me having friends that aren’t the same gender as me.” I turned to face him and smiled, walking backwards a ways. “Thanks for walking me home.”

He didn’t seem to take too kindly to being left alone on the street, which I couldn’t blame him for. “Now wait a minute, is there something else? I feel like there’s more to it than that.” He took a hold of my left arm and tried to pull me back, but I shrugged away from him.

“Listen, and trust me on this one. You don’t want to get involved, especially not with my home situation, okay?” I gave him a parting glance and turned, running across the street before any oncoming traffic decided to run me over.

I never turned to look back and see if he saw what happened, but he never asked me about it, so I’m assuming it went unnoticed to him when I was grabbed by the arm and yanked into my house as soon as I opened the door. When it slammed shut behind me I was tossed against the back of the couch, and since I went stomach first I got the wind knocked out of me. Usually I’m not quite a pushover, but I was taken off guard, so that wasn’t helpful to me.

While I was getting my breath back I caught a whiff of alcohol, which didn’t surprise me in the least. As I stood up and took in a lung full of air I got smacked across the left side of my face. Damn, I thought today would end as good as it went.

“What the hell are you doing home so late! Practice goes until six! It’s almost seven! You only have to walk for twenty minutes! What’s the matter with you, you damn hussy!” My mother, slightly taller than me, much lankier, looked a little more scraggily that usual. Her hair was a rat’s nest and way too thin looking, her face looked ten years older than her, the skin around her mouth was chapped, and she had layers of bags under her eyes. Not pleasant looking at all.

I sighed and resisted the great urge to roll my eyes. “Mom, I was talking to people, I do that from time to time, believe it or not.” I just remembered that there was no way in hell I was actually going to tell her what really happened.

She either didn’t like my answer or was just too upset to fully take in what I had said. “This better not happen again or I’ll-!”

“You’ll what, exactly?” I don’t normally go there with my mom, but she caught me at a bad time. “Take me off the team? It’s free and I walk home, there’s nothing you’re going to be able to do to stop me. And geez, I thought you wanted me to make more friends. You’re the one who wants me out of the house all of the time!” Wow, the moon must be full or something, I’m a lot nastier today than I usually am.

Without giving her a second too long to think about it I headed upstairs and locked my bedroom door. If she tried to get in chances are she’d be too drunk to try for very long. I just hope she doesn’t end up passing out in front of my door again.

I turned on my desk lamp and slipped out of my clothes, exchanging them for pajama pants and cami. As I kicked aside my pile of discarded clothes I picked my phone up off the desk and called the first person I thought of, ‘dad’.

He wasn’t really my dad, just one of my mom’s exes, but he was my favorite. He’s also the reason I’m fluent in Gaelige and use it so often, him living in Ireland with family that barely speaks anything but the old language made it hard for English alone. It’s also really cool since I could talk to him about anything and mom would never be able to understand what I was saying.

We talked for a good hour, mostly about school and his family, which I learned had almost doubled in size since the last time we spoke. Apparently all of the younger wives decided to get pregnant and have their children all at one time, so there was a massive new branch added to the family tree. I keep telling him how awful it is living where I’m at and that I’d be more than happy to move in with him and meet my ‘extended family’, as we like to call them.

As dinner rolled around we said our goodbye’s and hung up on each other, which always makes me sad only because it’s so easy for us to talk to each other, and I enjoy talking to him the most.

I figured a quick snack would have to do for dinner tonight, I really had no interest in spending too much time downstairs with my deranged and alcohol induced mother just because I’d rather have something decent to eat. Thankfully when I got downstairs she’d passed out on our paisley printed couch (which she insisted on having), so I could at least fix something like Easy Mac and not get hounded for existing, which might tempt me to throw scalding hot sink water at her. Oops, my hand accidentally twitched violently in the opposite direction of my bowl. Sorry.

Unfortunately I got to both make and eat my dinner in peace, so no scalding of mother tonight, probably for the best. After that I really just sat around on my computer and wasted a few extra hours of my life on the internet. It’s like when you swear you’re money away to taxes, only it’s my soul to the internet, which is far less complicated, by the way.

After passing out at my desk and nearly sleeping through my alarm the next morning, I could confidently say that the rest of the day was most likely going to make me wish that I would’ve staid home awaiting the wrath of my mother. But I had tests all this week, including today, and I didn’t study because I am a teenager and it’s an occupational hazard.

I decided that I’d just go over notes as I walked to school, while praying some idiot didn’t decide to turn me into road hill while I wasn’t paying attention. But I made it to school in one piece, though I’m sure I looked a little worse for wear. I could see it on Jade’s face when she made her way through the crowd.

“Damn, girl. Did Mother Nature show up or somethin’? You look awful.” She tilted her head to one side and put a fist on one hip.

I rolled my eyes and brushed past her, weaseling my way through to the apparent center of the crowd. Guess he was already here.

“Ladies, ladies! Please!” I could hear him trying to shout over the massive group of rabid females, and the occasional dude. As I passed a break in the cluster I could see the head of the creep squad trying to stand her ground against other prying females. Poor guy, he needed some help.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a bottle of leather oil. I bought it to help stretch out my hard shoes, but I ended up having a bunch left over, and it would seem like I just found the perfect use for it. I pushed my way to the front of the crowed and unscrewed the spray nozzle, and waited until one of the girls got too close, then I poured the oil all over the floor under her feet. I darted away so I didn’t get to see her hit the ground, but I could tell she went down kicking and screaming.

Jade saw me coming and we quickly made our way out of the mass of people and against a wall. Somewhere in the confusion Zim had managed to slip away, which meant my plan was a success and that excited me because that sort of thing never happens.

He grabbed us both by the arms and led us around the nearest corner, stealing peaks back at the crowd to make sure everyone was still looking around like a bunch of morons. When he felt that we were successfully under the radar he let us go and slid to the ground. “I don’t know how much longer I can be civil towards these monsters.

I crossed my arms over my chest and stole a glance at Jade. “I don’t know how you were ever civil to them in the first place.”

Jade turned around and swayed to the side, waving her hands at us to shut up. “Guys, I think they noticed.”

“Well, I’ll catch you ladies on the flip-side, I’m out.” Zim stood up and took off all in one fluid motion, and I caught myself staring a little longer than I should have.

As the two of us made our way to the opposite side of the building, I started to get hounded with questions.

“So, what made you want to help him, all of a sudden?” “You two seem to almost be off the nickname basis, what’s all that about?” “I heard from the grapevine of bitches that he walked you home yesterday?” “Why’d you stare at him for so long when he walked away?”

I shook my head and tried to outpace her, but her legs were longer than mine and she caught up without effort. “Look Jade, I don’t know what’s going on. I’m assuming, to be on the safe side, that it’s nothing, nada, zilch. And I sure as hell am _not_ falling for that son of a bitch, so you can forget whatever plan it is that you’ve got to-“

“Aw come on, though! Don’t you wanna show those prissy hoes up? I can’t even imagine how mad they’d be if you got your hands on him first!” She laughed and we stood by the door to my first class, and for a split second I was almost glad I didn’t have class with her.

Until I remembered that I _did_ have class with head harem whore. Fuckin’. Great.

It was hard not to shoot her a nasty look as I took my seat, even though her gaze towards me was cold and devious. I did my best to ignore it, but I could see out of the corner of my eye, as I had the unfortunate displeasure of sitting next to her, and she didn’t look away until the teacher walked in.

He was technically a professor at our community college, but he was also that fat guy that bragged about it, so I didn’t honor his title. “Good morning everyone,” he said dryly. “I hope everyone is back into the swing of things now that it’s the third week back. I hope I get a bigger pile of homework this time.”

I rolled my eyes and shuffled around in my backpack and pulled out a slightly less than neat packet of useless information and entirely unrelated assignments. When I set it on my desk, head bitch next to me raised her hand.

“Um, professor?” He looked up from his desk and smiled at her, she was a favorite and she wallowed in it. “I wasn’t able to finish the last assignment and you know how I hate to turn in incomplete work. May I have until Friday?”

“Of course, Jen,” he replied happily, getting out his favorite pen to take attendance.

As he went through the list of names and I made sure I had everything for my note-taking ritual, I started to think about what Jade said.

" _Don’t you wanna show all those prissy hoes up?”_

For a second I was a little offended that she would suggest going against our code of ‘chicks before dicks’, and for a gain that wouldn’t even truly be hers. But I decided to entertain the idea for just a moment…

“Now, this week we will be starting on this semester’s topic. Unfortunately you have to sit here while I teach you about sex education.” His face seemed to say that he gained enjoyment out of the collective groan. Ew. “However, I thought I’d ease you into it with relationship abuse first.”

I could already see this going bad if I paid too much attention, so I only tuned back in every once in a while to see where the conversation had gone and pretend to take notes. Somehow class was going a little faster than usual, and I was grateful for it. Though, I figured the peace wouldn’t last forever, and I was right.

Jen daintily repacked all of her belongings and adverted her eyes to me for a brief moment. “I know you weren’t paying much attention in class, granted you _are_ smarter than most people anyway. So I’m going to assume you understand what he was talking about today.”

Shit, she started talking to me _and_ gave me a fake compliment. “What do you want?” I made the mistake of humoring her, but my curiosity was great and my inner nosy bitch needed to know what she was going on about.

“Well,” she continued, getting up to head for the door. “I don’t appreciate the way you’ve been getting in between Zim and I.” She shouldered past one of our nerd kids and walked out into the middle of the hall. “It’s not conducive to our relationship, and it’s probably the reason we’ve been having… troubles lately.”

I did roll my eyes this time and let her go on about healthy relationships and I’m sure I heard a threat in there. Threats I do not take kindly to. “Oh for fucks sake, the two of you are _not_ in a relationship! He can’t stand you! You are a delusional freak that only pretends that he likes you because you’ve probably got some weird daddy issues at home or something.”

Maybe I went too far, _maybe_ that last part was a little overboard. But the look on her face was so damn funny it was worth it. Well, until she hit me.

Like I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a pushover. Not to anyone. Not to my mother, not to Harem boy, not to Jade, and especially not this bitch. So I hit her back, right in the face. She’s lucky I didn’t kick her.

“Did you just… hit me?” She sounded surprised, and for a split second she looked like she was going to cry.

For the next few seconds a crowd began to form and kids began chanting ‘fight!’ as loud as they could. It wasn’t much of a fight though, I dodged her measly attacks and did my best to not actually mess her up too bad. Eventually we were rolling on the floor, entangled in each other’s arms and legs while trying to pull hair and bite and claw wherever we could. I’m sure to some of the weirder minds we were some kind of female erotica, if they were into the bitch-fight kink.

I guess I hadn’t realized how engaged into the fight I really was, because I was suddenly yanked away from her and off the ground, a pair of lean arms wrapped around my waist and shoulders, gently, but firmly, separating me from my opponent. “That’s enough!” he yelled, and I didn’t realize who it was until he was whispering in my ear.

“Easy, easy, calm down,” he said, breathing slightly down my neck as he nuzzled the side of my face. I’m sure he thought that went unnoticed. Or maybe he was just trying to distract me from kicking and flailing, which was probably causing him a little grief.

As my feet hit the ground I had to try desperately to keep them there, fuming with my fists clenched as I watched Zim and Jade pull the bitch to her feet. He said something to her quietly and guided her out through the other side of the crowd while Jade joined my side.

“I ain’t even gonna ask what happened, but she deserved whatever she got.” Jade smirked and gave me a pat on the shoulder, but I kept myself turned away.

For the next few moments I did what I could to calm down, taking deep breaths and counting to thirteen. I watched Jade disperse the crowd and lie to my professor about the fight being ‘nothing but a few nasty words’. Once he was convinced and as she turned to re-accompany me, she was nearly knocked over when Jen burst through the last clump of teenagers, one arm over her mouth and the other trailing wildly behind her as she sobbed.

Zim appeared through the last thicket of kids and guided Jade over to me. “You’re bleeding, come on,” he stated quietly, trying to keep everyone’s attention away from me no doubt. I let him lead me to the nearest boy’s bathroom. “Everyone out!” he yelled, stepping in to glare at any occupants.

“Wait a minute, I can’t-“ I tried protesting. But he gave me a look and for whatever reason it shut me up, so I followed the two of them in and let him lift me onto the counter. “So what’d you say to her?”

He looked at me questioningly.

“To Jen, what did you tell her that made her run off crying the way she did?”

He rummaged around in his messenger bag and pulled out a mini first-aid box. “Oh… I just let her know very plainly that we were not and will not ever be together and that I didn’t want it to ever be an issue again.” He picked through a few things and laid out a cotton square and a bottle labeled ‘C3H8O’.

I watched as he soaked the cotton in the rubbing alcohol and I grasped at the edge of the counter. “If you put that on my face I’ll knee you in the balls again I swear to God.”

His face remained totally blank as he answered, “I don’t have any.”

It took me a moment to think about it, and I still couldn’t tell if he was serious or not, but the burning pain on the side of my face halted my train of thought and it derailed in a blur of chaos. “Holy shit, you asshole!”

“Hold still,” he said firmly, binding both of my wrists in only one of his hands, using the other to press the soaked cotton across the cut along my right cheek.

It hurt like shit. A lot of shit. And I couldn’t jerk away from him because he was so much stronger than what his muscles gave away. I squoze my eyes shut and gritted my teeth, mentally willing the stray tear in the corner of my eye to stay put and show no weakness. I may not have a high pain tolerance mentally, emotionally, or physically, but I was the only one allowed to know that.

After a moment the pain disappeared suddenly and a new, not saturated with liquid Satan, cotton square was pushed against my skin. It felt so much nicer.

“Hold that there until the bleeding stops,” he droned, neatly packing up the box and tucking it away in the depths of his bag.

I couldn’t help but notice that his usual air of smiles and ‘I know I’m a sexy beast’ were no longer present. “Are you okay?” I don’t know why I asked, because I didn’t think I’d care, but his answer was interesting.

“No, I made a little girl cry.”

Jade snickered and I remembered that she had been with us the whole time. “Yeah, but it was kinda funny.” When he glared at her she glared right back. “She deserved whatever you told her. Her little messed up game was getting out of hand.”

He sighed and shouldered his things, walking past us to the door. “Maybe,” he drawled, and he was gone.

Thankfully, neither of us were reported to the principal’s office, so I was able to get through second period without a hitch. I was so ready for lunch that by the time I sat down to eat I suddenly wasn’t so hungry anymore.

“What’s the matter?” Jade asked, her mouth full of mystery-meat loaf.

I shook my head and glanced behind her. We sat at the back of the cafeteria, and I faced the whole of it, the closed off stage section to the left and the double door entrance to the right. Off to the left was Jen and the harem, the other girls consoling her while she continued to cry.

Jade looked behind her in the direction I was motioning to and she huffed. “Look, she got what was coming to her, end of story.”

With a hand still pressing the cotton to my cheek, I said, “It’s not her, it’s him.”

At this her eyes widened for a quick second before the look became knowing and a little snarky. “I knew you had a thing for him,” –“I do not!” – “I was just waiting for you to figure it out.”

I sighed deeply and hung my head. “No, I don’t. It’s just… did you notice how quickly his mood changed? I’ve never seen him so… dead before.”

 “Dead?”

 “That’s what he looked liked!” I puffed my cheeks out slightly and then looked away from her, my gaze narrowing as I focused on the empty gray wall. I should’ve glared in the other direction, because I was totally caught off guard when Harem boy plopped right down next to me.

He put a hand on my shoulder to turn me around and I shrugged away from him. “Come on, let me see,” he persisted, and I groaned. “I have to make sure you’re not still bleeding, get over here!”

We fought against each other for a moment, me trying to pull away and he trying to crawl around to see the other side of my face. I’m sure Jade sat and watched with a sense of sick pride while we went about our little kerfuffle. But eventually I became afraid of making a scene, so I complied and turned to look at him. “What happened to you being upset earlier?”

He smiled and inspected my cut. “She passed me in the hallway and went on about how she forgave me for acting out and that she was sure our relationship was not in danger. So I stopped feeling bad.”

“What, for real?” Jade let her wrist loose and turned her head to look back at Jen and her group, shuddering verbally. “That bitch ain’t right in the head. It sucks that you’ve got to put up with that.”

Zim shrugged and handed me a clean cotton square. “I won’t say I don’t mind, because I do, but there’s only a semester left before I never have to see her again.”

We all nodded in affirmation, then I asked, “So where’re you going after high school?” After that I felt bad for asking.

He looked down and thought for a moment, and I thought he was going to get upset again. But he looked back up and gave me a forced smile. “I don’t know. It depends really, so I guess I don’t have plans…”

After that it was all small talk, and I did happen to notice how and when he avoided very specific questions, and I slid that into the back of my mind for later. Unfortunately the bell rang for class a lot sooner than I thought it would, and I actually wished I couldn’t ask him a few more questions. That was when I realized I was delving way too far into the situation than I should’ve, any farther and shit was gonna start hittin’ the fan real quick.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is short but I didn't want to put in a bunch of filler that I didn't need and I just really want to get on to the next part because it's so damn cute asdfghjkhf.

For the next three weeks or so Jade and I became a little more acquainted with Harem boy, and I slowly stopped calling him such to his face. Though, we still weren’t really on a first name basis, not him and I anyway. We came up with new stupid nicknames for each other, like he was originally ‘shota boy’ and he hated it so then I had to call him ‘pretty boy’ instead. I don’t think he likes that either, which is probably why he took to calling me ‘cailin gearr’, basically Irish for shorty.

Jade is convinced that our dumb nickname ritual means that we’re “meant for each other”. Frankly, I don’t hate him nearly as much as I did a few weeks ago, and maybe that’s because I know him a little better and I sort of understand why he acts the way he does. But I wouldn’t say I have feelings for him.

“Top o’ the mornin’ to ya, Cailin Gearr,” he said as I walked through the front double doors, giggling as I cringed at his near perfect accent.

“Dul titim i díog, pretty boy,” I replied, smiling as I could tell he didn’t realize I just told him to go fall in a ditch. I love knowing languages other people don’t.

He rolled his eyes, glancing at me for a moment before responding. The words that came out of his mouth were short, a little gutteral, and were like nothing I had ever heard before, somehow they didn't seem like a real language at all, and yet it sounded quite sophisticated.

I stopped where I stood and made a face at him, my brows furrowing while my mouth twisted into weird shapes while I tried to think of something to say. “Um, what? You wanna repeat that?” I felt like I didn’t hear what came out of his mouth at all, and yet it was a jumble of gibberish all at the same time.

He snickered and said, “Nope,” as he stuffed his hands into his jeans. He looked away from me and in front of him, skirting around those shorter than him.

I guess I never realized how tall he was, even though I was a measly five foot nothin’ and everyone was taller than me. But damn, he must’ve been at least six foot. I mentally face-palmed, if I found one more cliché I think I’d actually verbally confront him about it, just to see what he’d say.

As the day droned on in one fluid blur I got continuously more excited for Irish practice that evening. I wasn’t usually _excited_ for it, per se, but today I couldn’t wait to pull on my hard shoes and get up on stage to show off. Actually, I just wanted to dance around on my toes because I recently was able to do without breaking my ankles. Arguably, I think doing flashy steps en pointe in hard shoes is the coolest thing ever.

Unfortunately, class didn’t start for another half an hour, so I took up my usual spot on the steps outside the front doors. By this time everyone has either gone home or was already meeting with their club, so it was absolutely quiet. Well, until shota boy showed up.

The breeze had been rustling in the trees and there was only an occasional car that would pass by. I was enjoying the sounds of nature, while doing a few ankle stretches, and was just about in my dream world when the unmistakable noise of a motorbike brought me back.

I looked up and saw him pull into the student parking lot, taking the vacant motorcycle spot at the edge closest to the school. I wasn’t surprised that it was just about pink, black and chrome accents and all, just like his car. As he put the kickstand down and pulled off his helmet I rolled my eyes as obviously as I could.

He jogged over and smiled at me, but I didn’t return the gesture, I only glared harder. “What?”

That’s it, I had to tell him. “Do you even _know_ how much of a _cliché_ you are?” He obviously didn’t because he only repeated himself. “I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you,” I continued, standing up and pushing open the front doors.

He paused, “Could you anyway? I’m obviously not understanding where you’re coming from…”

When I looked up at his face I was disappointed, he was serious. I sighed heavily and decided that maybe he was just a little more dense that I had originally thought. “Well for starters, when was the last time you looked in a mirror? It should be just as obvious to you as it is to everyone else that you’re the biggest teenage heartthrob at this school.”

For a moment was he thoughtful, “Is that what they call me?”

I rolled my eyes again. “Yes, stupid. Your height, build, hair, eyes, even your goddamn smirk. And the whole ‘I’m the team leader for the Hip Hop crew’ thing doesn’t help either.” I glanced at him again, seeing how he was taking it.

“So… what exactly are you saying?” He asked, tapping lightly on his helmet.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, you have no flaws! There’s nothing wrong with you! You’re perfect! It’s awful!” There, I fucking said it. My steps turned into stomps, and I’m sure had I been wearing my hard shoes I would’ve been heard from the other side of the building.

Zim was quiet as he muddled over what I’d said, but he finally did say something back. “Well, if you want me to have flaws… I only have four fingers and toes. How’s that?”

Wait, what? “Really?” I pulled his free hand from his pocket and looked it over. It was true though, he didn’t really have a pinky finger, just a shorter ring finger. What the fuck. “Um, what happened? Or should I not ask?”

He only laughed at me. “Nah, nothing happened. Every doctor I’ve ever been to just said it was a birth defect or something.” He smirked when I scrunched my face up. “Also, my eyes aren’t actually blue, they're lavender.”

“You’re lying.”

“Nope, wanna see?”

There was no way on this earth his eyes were that color. It’s humanly impossible. I looked up skeptically, stopping to fold my arms over my chest. He took the hint and leaned over a little bit so that he was on my level. At first it seemed he really was full of shit, but the closer I got the more freaked out I became. They were lavender. Like the crayon color. “Are you even human, what is wrong with you?”

For a split second worry flashed across his face, another thing I stored for later, but then he scoffed and continued on down the hall. “Oh, so now I’m not perfect enough for you?”

I punched him in the arm as he opened the side doors into the theater room, the cafeteria was closed off. He whined sarcastically and then left to join his crew, I to my dwindling group of Irish dancers.

Today we popcorned the stage, actually doing routines and jigs and reels and all kinds of things while the crew did whatever it was that they do. It was mostly ‘hot damn I look good doin’ this’ sort of things, which is fine, it just got me a little more excited to shove in his face something he _couldn’t_ do.

So most of the time I sat quietly in the front row of the auditorium seats, watching and critiquing my group while our teacher worked a little more on our showcase routine. Whenever the boys were off stage they sat clumped in the first two rows on one end, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Zim leaned over to look at me on more than one occasion.

As six o’ clock rolled around the crew was on stage for one last practice run-through, this one set to hardcore dubstep music. I watched, intrigued as always and hypnotized by their fluid yet sharp movements. I didn’t realize I had been tapping along until the dance was over and Zim confronted me about it.

“What, you’re dancing to our music now?” He asked as the rest of his crew slid off the edge of the stage to take their seats.

I looked up and smiled, “Not really, I was just tapping along. But I’m sure I could do something fancy if you wanted me to.”

He scoffed and folded his arms. “You, dance Irish to dubstep?”

“Yes, I can Irish to _wub_ -step. And if you don’t believe me I’d be happy to show you up.”

His eyebrows raised and he seemed a little taken aback. “Are you… challenging me? To a dance battle?"

I nodded with a smile. “And since I challenged you, I’ll let you pick the music, to make it easier on you of course.” I mirrored his posture and waited for a reply. I didn’t get words, only a baffled expression and a shrug. Then he made his way over to the speakers where his iPod was housed and scrolled through.

“You know, I didn’t realize our friendship had escalated to the point for you to be so ballsy,” he called at me, smirking at me sideways.

Remembering a comment he had said a while back, I retorted with, “Well, since you don’t have any, I have to have them for you.”

There was silence, and then a collective “Oooohhh!” from the boys, peppered with expressions such as “Are you gon’ take that?” and “Show her up, brah!” Oh yes, this will be fun.

Zim nodded at one the boys to ready his music when told, then climbed up onto the stage with me. “Just because you’re a girl doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you,” he said coolly, taking his place at one side.

I stood off a little too, crossing my legs and turning out my feet. “Hey, what’d I tell you about clichés?” I glared as he rolled his eyes, and then motioned for his crew member to start the song.

We didn’t say anymore words to each other, it was time to let our dancing do the talking as we showed each other that we were not pushovers or easily intimidated. He did his hip hop thing with the fancy footwork and tutting, throwing in a break move or two. I countered with double speed trebles and a few high kicks, saving the best for last. It went back and forth and all the while we eyed each other, not hatefully, but in a respectful ‘I’m going to kick your ass’ sort of way.

“This is your last chance, you won’t win,” he said, finishing a rather sexualized dance phrase at a break in the music.

As I waited for the music to kick back, formulating my final move, I replied, “You haven’t seen everything yet.”

Within a few seconds the rift ended and the last section of the song began, and I took full advantage of it. I started out a little hard, double speed trebles, heel kicks, and a few foot switches, just to be fancy. But as it picked up speed and dropped the base I gave it all I had. I did a few sets of toe turns, then double sped everything, adding in toe taps and all sorts of crazy things that would kill my ankles later. It was worth it though, I got up in his face, stamped really loud to get his attention, and did a body roll just to piss him off. As the song hit its last beat I ended squarely on my toes, feet turned out and legs crossed as close as I could, like I was standing on the head of a pin, with my hands at my hips.

I gave it a few seconds to sink in, then lowered to the floor and turned to see his face, and I was pleased thoroughly.

“Oh…” he said quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Well, I guess you showed me up,” then he smirked at me wholeheartedly, bumping me with his hip. “Not bad.”

For a moment I was stunned. “Not bad? Not bad!? That was awesome!”

Zim chuckled at me, turning to step off the stage. “Alright, it _was_ pretty damn cool, just don’t break your ankles, okay?”

“I make no promises,” I retorted, hopping off the stage proudly.

After we said our ‘goodbye’s I cleared out, walking the halls alone until I stepped out into the cool evening air. The streets were quiet and the gentle breeze felt good against my damp skin. I was able to walk home peacefully, carrying my hard shoes in one hand so that I walked barefoot. As I rounded the corner to my street Zim’s car pulled up next to me, and he rolled down the window.

“Hey,” he called, looking for any nearby cars. “I need to ask you something.”

I looked over and quirked an eyebrow at him, “What’s up?”

“What class does Jade have tomorrow morning?”

“What for?”

“I have to ask her something.”

Well that’s weird, they never did talk much. “Oh really? You’re not going to tell me what it is, are you?” He smiled that adorkable smile of his, and I found myself smiling with him. God dammit.

“Nope!” he laughed, checking for cars again.

I sighed with a grin, figuring I could just pry it out of her tomorrow anyway. “She’s got American Government with the Nazi guy,” He cringed knowingly. “Yeah, so don’t be late or anything, or make her late because I’ll kick you.”

He rolled his eyes and drove off, waving as he turned the corner in front of me. Before he rolled his window up he gave me one last look, sticking his tongue out at me before I couldn’t see him, leaving me no time to come back. The little shit.

Oh well, I’ll have plenty of time for that tomorrow, after I figure out what he wanted with Jade.

* * *

 

“What do you mean you won’t tell me? Chicks before dicks, remember?” I pleaded, but I could already tell it was no use, she wasn’t going to budge.

Jade crossed her arms and looked at me as she leaned over the lunch table. “That would only apply if I was trying to get his dick, which you couldn’t pay me enough for. So technically you still come first. And trust me, have I ever done anything bad behind your back?”

I looked unamusedly at her, “You mean unlike that time you tried to change your exam scores with no intention of changing mine, too?”

“Hey, you told me then that it was better that I didn’t. Besides, this is different.” She sat back and shoved a sporkful of spaghetti into her mouth, telling me to drop the subject.

“Ladies!” Speak of the devil.

Jade waved and gave him a wink, which about drove me off the edge. When I gave her my ‘bitch you best tell me what’s going on’ look she only shook her head and waved at Zim as he took a seat next to me.

“Oh man, was it spaghetti day? Damn…” He remarked, pulling an apple out of thin air. When he glanced over at me he quickly shoved the apple in his mouth, biting off twice as much as I thought could fit in his mouth.

Well, I’ll give it a few days and ask again, maybe they’ll have done whatever it was they wanted to do and tell me about it. Until then I’ll just have to be diligent and see if I can pick up on anything.

However, the rest of the day yielded no results. Jade wouldn’t cave and tell me, and neither would Zim. I got no hints, no inklings, no nothing. Neither of them acted any differently, said anything weird, or even saw each other for the rest of the day. Dammit this was getting annoying already.

In fact, I didn’t notice anything different until Friday, and that’s when everything started to get a little weird.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter in Avery's point of view, thank god and you're welcome.

Friday

I met him at the front doors, and he smiled the moment he caught sight of me, not stopping even when I caught up. He opened the door for me and kept directly by my side all the way to my first class. We lingered and let the conversation flow for a few minutes, and then he started.

“I really like that color on you,” he said, putting a finger under my chin to make me look directly at him. “They make your eyes greener.”

Honestly, I was in shock. I didn’t even have the ability to form the words for a simple ‘goodbye’ when he turned to leave for class when the bell rang. I prayed he didn’t notice the deadpan expression on my face and the burning in my cheeks and ears.

Later that day, as he was walking me to my next class after lunch, I nearly tripped and fell over my own feet, and he called me adorable. _Adorable_. In the midst of my cursing I just stopped and looked at him, then at Jade. She only shrugged, so I looked back at him.

“Aw crap, I gotta go, I have a quiz and I can’t be late. I’ll meet you after fourth period!”

And he was gone. Just like that, while I was left starring off into his direction.

Then, when he walked me outside after school let out, just before he turned to go to his car, he said something else that left me speechless.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, beautiful~!” Complete with a wave and an endearing smile.

What the hell was going on?

 

* * *

 

Monday

When he walked me to first period the next day, it was the first time he touched me for more than two seconds, and I was fairly certain he meant it, meant for me to _notice_ it. His hand was on my shoulder, gently but not entirely light, it was deliberate. As he turned to leave he gave me a tiny squeeze and a smile, then took his seat and didn’t acknowledge me again until the end of class.

At lunch, when he took his seat next me after spending time with his crew, I noticed he sat a little closer, closed the personal space bubble. Our legs were barely touching, and sometimes our shoulders would brush against each other and I would get suddenly embarrassed and try to move away quickly without drawing attention to myself.

I didn’t notice, I guess since I had been caught up with my thoughts, but he’d been working on a few class assignments, and dropped his pen. I did hear it clatter to the linoleum floor and I was vaguely aware of him moving and shifting to retrieve it. However, I didn’t notice that it had rolled to the other side of where I was sitting, and when I did it was because he had slightly wrapped an arm around me to steady himself while he leaned over to reach for it.

Maybe I shuttered, maybe I got tense, maybe I even made a noise of surprise. Whatever I did got Jade’s attention and she snickered at me, holding a hand up to her mouth as she did so. And when Zim righted himself, removing his arm in the process. Jade only looked back and forth between the two of us, even though we were each preoccupied with our own devices.

And for whatever reason, I felt compelled to accompany him to his car that afternoon, laughing and giggling the whole way there as he was funny in only a way he could be.

His car sort of stuck out like a sore thumb in the parking lot full of clunkers, not only because it was a deep maroon pink, but it also looked like a brand new hundred thousand dollar car.  Someday I was going to ask how he was able to get his hands on such a thing.

He leaned back against the hood, his hands propping him upright as he stood. The light wind blew and I noticed that his hair didn’t sway with it like I thought it would, but I didn’t think much of it.

“So, I believe we are becoming what people would refer to as real friends, eh?” He smiled  a half smile, shifting his weight to the opposite foot.

I don’t know if I was supposed to notice the way his hips swayed, but I did. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” I tried to stay elusive, but I don’t think it was working.

Zim chuckled again, letting his shoulders bounce just slightly. “Well, I’d like to think so. There’s not very many women I can talk to that don’t try to attack me.”

For a moment my face began to turn red, but I forced it back down. “And there’s not very many guys that’ll talk to me period.” I laughed at myself, thinking I sounded pretty stupid.

“I don’t know why, you’re just as smart and pretty as anyone else, if not more so.”

There he went again with the damn compliments, making me feel things I didn’t how to deal with. I guess that was sort of a sad thing, really, because when I thought about it, I really was a fairly sheltered child. Just not in the normal way. I wasn’t ignorant to the important things, like the fact that religion is a mind numbing parasite, our government had always had a separate agenda, and we weren’t alone in the universe or on our planet, racially speaking.

But this tingling feeling in my gut was new, and the only other time I felt something like that was when I was nervous because I forgot something or I was meeting someone new, or talking to someone I didn’t know over the phone because Jesus that’s terrifying.

Shit, I’ve been spacing again. “Uh, thanks. You’re not so bad either, I guess now that I know you better.” I looked around and noticed that a lot of the people were either gone or in the process of leaving. “I should get going, I don’t want my mom to think I was doing something illegal again.”

Zim rolled his eyes playfully and held out his arms to me. I didn’t respond at all, and he ended up tugging at my shirt and arms to pull me in. His arms snaked around me and he put the slightest bit of pressure on me to keep me close.

I didn’t push him away, or pull back, or say anything, mostly because I was dumbfound. But then I started to really notice things, like how he was lithe and thin, but still hard and muscular under his clothes. I also noticed he gave my favorite kinds of hugs, one arm around my back and one hand pressing my head to his chest. It was the way my dad always hugged me, and it made me feel the safest, so I noticed all too late that I began to sink into him.

Also, we hugged for way more than five Mississippi’s, so without trying to come off as rude or offended, I gently broke away and did my best to smile without being creepy. I really needed space to crawl into the recesses of my mind and think.

“Well,” I said, cutting off all physical touch. “I’ll see you tomorrow, drive safe.” With a smile I left quickly, not looking back.

 

* * *

 

Tuesday

The morning was bleak and the skies seemed to get darker with every passing hour, so I pocketed my umbrella and walked to school as fast as I could. Thankfully the heavens waited to open up until I got inside the school building, then it turned into a monsoon.

Every time I looked out of the nearest window the rained pounded against the earth a little harder, the clouds blackened, and the wind whipped at the trees harsher. I was _not_ looking forward to walking home in this at all.

When the bell rang for the end of fourth period I cringed, the weather hadn’t let up any, but at least it hadn’t been getting worse since lunch.

Well, until I jinxed myself that is. Then the wind whipped back up again and the rain was loud as it poured down.

I stood at the front doors with my measly umbrella in hand, preparing to brave the forces of nature. I looked around before I stepped into the rain, watching kids disperse and run for cover or the bus or trying to cram themselves into other people’s car as forced rides. Great.

“Whoa, it got worse,” Zim popped up behind me, brushing slightly against the back of my shoulders.

I looked up and around, then at his umbrella, then realized mine wasn’t going to get me very far. “Uh, yeah, it kinda sucks. I should be fine though,” I lied, knowing full well I was going to end up soaked by the time I got to my house, most likely having lost my umbrella to the gale force winds.

Zim opened up his umbrella and guided me underneath, pulling me close so that I was inside the boundaries where the rain wouldn’t soak my clothes. “Keep close to me, and keep up,” he said, and began down the steps.

At first I had to get my feet under me, but I had a hard time keeping up with his long strides and staying underneath the umbrella. I guess he eventually got the hint, because he wrapped one arm around my waist and kept me at his side to help me keep up.

We ran into the student parking lot and avoided as many puddles as possible, which caused us to bump into each other quite a bit. When we reached his car we were both giggling messes, and he let me lean over the hood of his car to catch my breath.

“Are you alright?” he asked through his giggles, resting a hand on my back.

I nodded and smiled, coughing from my dry, stinging lungs. I felt his hand slide down to catch mine and he pull me over to the passenger door. I opened it up and slid in quickly to let in as little rain as I could. As he fiddled to close his umbrella and made his way to the other side I looked around at the inside of his car.

It looked just as sleek on the inside as it did on the outside. The dashboard was slick and looked a little ahead of its time. Almost all of the controls were touch operated, all of the meters behind the steering wheel were backlit, and there was no place for a key. In fact, I couldn’t even find and ignition button.

“You like it?” Zim slipped into the driver’s seat and slid the dripping umbrella into the back seat.

I looked up at him and almost couldn’t believe he had just asked me that. “I’m gonna be blunt, how much?”

For a moment I thought he didn’t get it, then he laughed and shook his head. “Um, it’s hard to say really. It was more of a gift,” he replied, situating all of his belongings in the seat behind me. Then he turned back around and placed his right hand against the empty space on the dashboard screen. The backlight kicked on and it flashed under his palm, then he removed his hand to rest it on the steering wheel, his finger prints left behind.

The car came to life, the engine starting with a ferocious growl, settling into a deep purr. Then it talked to him, the voice unmistakably female, like the over sexualized kind. He responded, and I realized they were using the language I had heard him speak in last week.

There was a click from somewhere underneath us, and then he took off, whipping out onto the street. He turned his radio up, sounded like k-pop, and a smirk settled on his lips.

We didn’t talk for the whole ride, and I didn’t mind, I was perfectly content with watching him drive.  I don’t know that I’ve ever admit it to anyone, but watching men drive sports cars was a serious turn on, mostly because they had to grip the wheel with both hands and it showed off their arms. And shota boy was no exception to this rule, unfortunately.

My eyes wandered a little more before I caught myself starring. I noticed that he kept the seat back just a little so he could lean back, he bit his bottom lip slightly every once in a while, and he splayed his legs open just enough to make it _really_ noticeable.

Eventually I did catch myself, but unfortunately it was because he started talking to me. It scared the shit out of me, and the way I jumped and desperately searched for something else to look at only gave away that I’d been staring.

“Enjoying the view?” The smirk on his face was a little suggestive, and it didn’t leave after he turned his eyes back to the road.

“Shut up,” I squeaked, balling my hands into fists and shoving them between my knees, hunching my shoulders to help hide my shame.

Zim laughed at me again and we slowed down for a red light. “It’s alright, I don’t mind,” he said quietly, letting his hands slide down to the bottom of the steering wheel.

I peeked over at him, slightly confused. “What do you mean you don’t mind?” Somewhere in the back of my mind I realized he’d turned down the music and I could hear him.

With a shrug he said, “You’re different, and you staring doesn’t creep me out.” The light turned green and the familiar smirk graced his lips as he sped off again.

I didn’t really stare this time, but I did pay attention to his driving habits, and was pleased to note he was actually a very safe driver. He checked his mirrors often, used a turn signal even if no one was around, and looked both directions twice at stop signs. Alright, so there was a pleasant break in the cliché streak.

A few minutes later he pulled up at the corner across the street from my house, putting his car into park. He looked over at me and smiled, his hands dropping into his lap.

“Thank for the ride,” I said quickly, reaching for my backpack in the floorboard.

“Anytime.”

I pulled it into my lap and looked at him quizzically, “Anytime?”

With a chuckle he confirmed, “Absolutely anytime.”

I smiled back and shouldered my bag, putting my hand on the door handle, prepared to run. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” and then I was out, closed the door behind me, and took off for my house.

 

* * *

 

Wednesday

We had lockers just like any other high school, though I didn’t use mine nearly as much as other people had to. But I did check it every day for notes, just in case Jade had something important to tell me or wanted to meet me somewhere before we were able to meet me face-to-face or something like that.

But today I did get a note, folded neatly and sitting in middle of the empty space on the top shelf. It was on cardstock, folded in half by a perfect little crease. I picked it up and looked at the top, stating it was in fact for me. When I opened it I was surprised to find that the handwriting was neat and wasn’t really a note, but a single stanza poem.

_What happier fortune can one find_  
Than with the girl who pleased one’s mind  
To leave one’s home and friends behind  
And sail on the first favouring wind?

I was a little stunned, and for a second I forgot to check and see who had sent it, maybe half expecting not to find one. But there was a name, written just as neatly as the rest of the poem; Zim. The little fucker was trying to swoon me.

After I was unable to find Jade I decided it was nothing and left for class, keeping the poem tightly in my fingers. All of my classes came and went and maybe I was ashamed that I didn’t pay attention, but it was kind of hard to when you were pretty sure the school’s hottest gentleman was into you.

I also noted that I didn’t see him that day.

 

* * *

 

Thursday

Jade and I sat at lunch, half excited for the week to be nearly over, mostly exhausted from the light rain since Tuesday’s downpour. Today’s lunch was something neither of us wanted to stomach, and I was the idiot that didn’t pack extra from home.

I sat in a daze as I watched her eat her lunch hungrily. BLT with mayo, tomato basil chips, homemade strawberry banana milkshake, and fresh baby carrots.

All I really wanted though was a sugar high to get me through the rest of the day, and I suppose there is some truth to that ‘ask and you shall receive’ saying I’ve heard.

“Are you alright? How come you aren’t eating?” Zim slid onto the bench next to me and put his hand gently on the side of my head, turning me so that I looked at him.

My eyes closed and I felt like I was going to fall asleep, but I was able to force a little smile for him to say ‘hi’. After that I yawned and nestled my head into the crook of my arms, desperately wanting a nap, preferably at home in my bed.

From under my half lidded eyes I saw him look at Jade, who nodded in my direction. Then he mirrored me and rested his head on his left arm, his right hand gently brushing my hair out of my face. “Are you sick?”

I shook my head as best I could and hid my face as I yawned again. “Just tired,” I drawled, moving slightly into his touch. “Need sugar.”

His face lit up and he disappeared from my limited line of sight. “Well then maybe I didn’t make these for nothing!” I could hear him shuffling around in his bag, and then a tupperware box was set on the table. “I baked cookies last night, I heard they’re your favorite,” he said, his voice a little muffled to me.

I sat up eagerly, eyeing the box and prying off the lid. Peanut butter chocolate ship. Fuck yeah. “You’re a wonderful human being,” I said flatly, picking out a favored cookie and shoving it gleefully into my mouth. Holy shit these were amazing. “Oh mh ghwd” I stammered, my mouth full of deliciousness.

Zim made a face and slid the box closer to me. “I’m glad you like them so much,” he replied, laughing halfway through.

You could say it was only fair, but I didn’t share those cookies, and they were gone by the end of third period, even though we’re not allowed to eat in class.

 

* * *

 

Friday

I spoke to no one. I looked at no one. I kept my arms folded where I could see them, I kept my head down, and I kept my footsteps quiet and swift. I know Jade saw me, and she knew not to bother me when I was like this.

My eyes were cast down at the ground and I didn’t look up for anything. I walked to class silently, I sat down without a word, and made myself as invisible as possible. People usually didn’t bother me anyway, but I didn’t get so much as a look from my classmates today, except for Zim. He looked worried, but he didn’t say anything to me, which I was grateful for.

The day passed painfully slow, each class dragged on and felt like razors on my skin. It hurt the way the second hand ticked on the clocks, I felt like I was in prison for being a victim. I just wanted to run to him, to cry into his chest and yell about how much I hated the world, how I just wanted to get away from everyone.

Seven times I forced myself not to cry, four times not to dry heave because I was sick, twice not to run out of the classroom out of fear, and once not to scream in the middle of the hall. I was scared at first, but then I just got angry. I was tired of feeling weak and helpless and dependant, but I knew there wasn’t really anything I could do to stop it.

The hours felt like days, and the tingles that ran over my skin when the bell rang made me shiver. I packed up my things and quickly made my way to the student parking lot, my feet making soft tapping noises until I hit the concrete stairs.

I don’t know why but I needed him. I’d never really needed anyone, Jade was just really nice to have around because I knew I could trust her. But I didn’t know if I could trust him, and yet I went to him automatically, like I would’ve in any other situation for anything else.

He was standing there against the hood of his car, staring down at his hands, like he was waiting for me, like he knew. I knew he saw me from a ways away, but he let me come to him, and I did. I dropped my stuff on the asphalt and threw myself into his open arms, trying not to choke as I let the tears out slowly. Then my throat started to hurt and I realized I was screaming against the fabric of his shirt.

His arms clutched at me tightly and he cradled my head gently, murmuring into my hair as he let me sob and quiver violently in his embrace. It hurt some, but mostly it felt good to let out all of my frustration and anger, even if it was me crying into some guy I was pretty sure was hitting on me.

It took me a few minutes, but I finally calmed down and stilled, then pulled away. I gripped the edges of my jacket sleeves in my fists and took deep breaths, willing away the headache I knew was coming.

Zim leaned down and took my face in his hands, tilting it upwards so he could look me in the eyes. “Talk to me,” he said firmly, but still soft and quiet.

I shook my head and forced his hands from my face, wrapping my arms around myself to keep them close. I guess that gave it away.

He was gentle but deliberate, reaching for my arms. I backed away a little, hoping he wouldn’t follow, but he did. I was scared that he’d see, and it made me falter, but he was so fast. I felt the fabric of my jacket sleeve get yanked to my elbow and I started to tremble again.

There were bruises, some big black ones, some tiny and brown. In the middle of my forearms were deep reddish purple hand marks where she’d grabbed me, and red lines where her nails had scraped my skin. And across my wrists were thin, shallow slits where she’d cut me with her favorite kitchen knife. They wouldn’t scar, and none of the marks would last long, but it happened just a little too soon.

I could tell he was angry, the way he set his jaw and the way his arms tightened and his muscles went rigid under his skin. But he let go quickly, his tension leaving just as soon as it had come. There was a moment of silence, then, “Give me your phone.”

I looked up at him and he only held his hand out, so I yanked down my jacket sleeves and dug my phone out of my pocket, then handed it over. He played with it for a moment, then started typing something. A minute later he handed it back.

“If you _ever_ need me, you _will_ call me, do you understand?” His voice was authoritative, slightly harsh, but in a way that comforted me. I could tell he meant it.

It was slight, but I nodded and he pulled me back into his arms. This time I let myself indulge in the way I was able to fall into him, the way he engulfed me in his arms, and nuzzled back when prompted. I buried my face into his chest, mostly because I was embarrassed at the way I had acted, the way I had let myself fall apart. Before he let me go he whispered into my ear, “Be safe,” and then I was walking away.

Of course I didn’t want to go back home, not to that bitch after what she’d done to me. But now I knew that I wasn’t alone. I don’t know why or how, but he made me feel safe without making me feel dependant, and I really liked that.

I just hoped I’d never have to call him for something serious.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys like this chapter more than I do...

Monday morning brought an onslaught of negativity, as Mondays were known to do, specifically for an emotionally confused and fuming Irken stomping down the halls of the school. His eyes scanned quickly at the crowd, passing angrily over his harem of drooling females and anyone with a lighter skin tone. He had to find Jade and they needed to talk.

He had hoped that arriving early would allow him time question her thoroughly before Avery was anywhere to be seen. Part of his brain wished that maybe Avery wouldn’t show up, but then the other part grew worried at the possibility of why she’d be absent. Eventually he was able to collect his first small victory of the day.

“Jade,” he said sternly, his jaw set.

The girl looked up and around the door of her locker, noting very quickly the foul mood of her acquaintance. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” She half knew that joking with someone who rarely ever expressed anything but gaiety and was trembling with anger was probably foolish.

“We need to talk, _now_.” He didn’t mean it as a request, and he didn’t mean it as an offer, it was a demand. Without waiting for her to say one way or another, he grabbed her arm and led to her a less dense portion of the hallway. “How long have you known,” he said in the same flat, yet dangerous tone.

Jade only tilted her head and folded her arms. “Known what?”

Zim sighed heavily and angrily, leaning against the wall with one arm. “About Avery, I know you saw her Friday.”

For a brief moment it might have seemed that Jade was just as clueless, but then she closed her eyes and lowered her head. “Too long, it’s been going on _way_ too long. You didn’t confront her about it, did you?” Jade suddenly sounded angry, but in a protective way.

“Not directly,” he replied, looking slightly away. “But I can’t let that happen again. I _will_ not let it happen again.”

With a groan Jade slumped against the wall. “And what do you think you could do any differently to change the situation. Tell me and I’ll let you know that _we’ve already tried_. I don’t like it anymore than you do, but after once you learn when not to get involved, and I would strongly advise you to _not_ get involved.”

A flash of rage crossed through Zim’s eyes. “Did you not hear me? I said I wasn’t going to let it happen again.”

Jade shook her head slowly, both grateful for his concern and irritated by his stubbornness. “Look, I get that you care about her, and I’m glad to see that someone other than me finally does. But you’d just make it worse if you interfered, trust me, _I know_.”

At this Zim didn’t bother to argue, already formulating in his mind little ways that he might be able to control the situation. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the chance to attempt any of them.

Avery never skipped school, was never late, and had maintained a 4.0 average throughout high school. It was something that Jade was very proud of her for, all things considered. And the girl intended to not let her record slip no matter what.

She showed up every day, attended every class, took notes when she otherwise wouldn’t, and spoke only to Jade. She never looked at Zim, never responded to his greetings or his words of worry, though appreciated them nonetheless. But either out of fear of what might happen should he get involved, or embarrassment for the way she had so easily let her walls down in his arms, she wasn’t quite sure.

It killed him inside the way she ignored him, the way he couldn’t tell how she felt in general, or specifically how she felt about him. He had done everything Jade had told him in attempts to get Avery to notice him more, in a way that wasn’t quite so casual.

Zim knew very well that he breaking the “rules” of his people, letting himself fall so easily into the temptation of more complex feelings. But even though he was PAK-less he was sure that that would hold nothing in an argument anyways, he’d just be told that he was smart enough to be able to ignore such things.

But his people didn’t feel what he felt, they didn’t know how hard it was to push down the overflowing emotions, how impossible it was to just _ignore_ the way it burned his blood and set him on fire.

It made him angry that he thought himself so selfish, but also relieved him that he was skilled in veiling his emotions to the outside world. But _damn_ if he could just make her see, make her understand what she was doing, how she wouldn’t even so much as look at him after the way she clung to him desperately as if he was the only one who could ever soothe her nerves. He hated it and loved it all at the same time and it drove him _mad_.

The whole week dragged on in agony as Zim was left to himself, save for Tuesday’s meeting, and every day he became more and more worried about Avery’s condition. Was it a phase? Had this happened before? Was this normal for her after she would get beaten? Jade surely seemed to think so, not going out of her way anymore than normal to do anything for her best friend.

Saturday and Sunday were practically nonexistent and Zim finally got fed up with the lack of attention. He sat on the ground by his first period class, having already snapped horridly at the mob of females to leave him alone, and waited for Jade.

Minutes passed as slow as eternities, but the dark skinned girl never showed, and he began to wonder if she was just absent altogether. He moved his head to look up and was met by a pair of short, but well tones pair of legs, defined by a pair of green leggings. Avery stood in front of him, her eyes glassed over as she stared at nothing vaguely in his direction. When he moved to stand she dropped to her knees painfully onto the floor, keeping her head hung low.

Zim sunk back against the wall and kept his hands to himself, deciding it was best for her to make the first move, which she did. He stiffened as her arms wound around his neck and she buried her face in his shoulder.

She didn’t cry, she didn’t tremble, she only spoke, “I’m so sorry.”

At first he was angry again, and wanted to chastise her for being sorry about nothing, but quickly put a lid on his brash emotions and held his hands up to hug her back, rubbing gentle circles behind her shoulders. “You have nothing to be sorry about,” he cooed.

Avery shook her head and pushed him back roughly by his shoulders. “You don’t get it, do you!?” Her eyes narrowed as the boy beneath her stare sunk ever so slightly. “You got involved, even after I told you not to!”

Now he was angry. “What did I do to get involved?” he growled, but made no move to push her away, even though his years of military training made that very difficult.

She gave a huff and lowered her hands, looking hatefully at her arms. “You made me like you,” she replied softly, squeezing her eyes shut. “You made me start _trusting_ you.”

For a moment Zim’s brain shut off, in that habitual way Irkens do when faced with information they simply don’t know what to do with, and usually it gets discarded, never making it into the long-term memory file within the PAK. But Zim had no such thing and had to fight and claw to hold on to what she just said. She liked him.

He blinked himself back to reality and studied her carefully, but she never moved. “I didn’t… make you do anything,” he said, not particularly liking how the words tasted in his mouth.

Avery glanced hotly up at him, meeting his eyes only for a moment, and noting how he tensed for a split second. “But that’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? You were trying.”

Becoming slowly frustrated with how the situation was progressing, because it was not at all how he had planned it out into his head, he fought himself to not raise his temper. “Either way, I don’t see how that’s getting involved.”

With a shaky struggle, Avery stood back up, giving Zim room. “We’ll talk later, but don’t come after me.

Zim watched her go down the hall, a million different things running through his mind. _You fucked up you idiot! What is_ wrong _with you? You’re horrible at this._ He groaned audibly to himself in a slightly comical sort of way, then stormed into class and took his seat.

* * *

After not having seen Avery for the rest of the day, or getting anymore word from Jade, Zim left in the same manner he had arrived, viciously and seething. He sped his car the whole way home, but for the sake of his tires at least slowed down to park it in the garage. However, he did slam the door shut rather brutally.

As he opened the door to the house, leading him into his kitchen, he was met quite gently by a tiny cyan robot.

“Hello, Master,” the robot greeted happily, closing the door behind Zim and following the Irken’s footsteps.

“Not now, Gir,” the Irken droned, dropping his bag on top of the robot and vaguely hoping he’d be able to find it later.

He’d tampered slightly with his mock S.I.R unit a few times, and was able to lessen the frequent agitating outbursts. The little bot became much easier to handle, and was slowing learning how to perform certain tasks without much interference from his faulty programming.

Just as Zim had turned his holographic disguise off, rubbing a hand frustratingly over his antenna, the large screen of his living room TV came to life. A bright red Irken insignia flashed with a faint buzzing noise, alerting him to a call.

**Sir, the incoming transmission is from the Massive.**

Zim huffed at his computer, instructing it to answer. He stood at the ready, feet shoulder-width apart and arms behind his back, waiting for signal to relay. In a moment the screen went from backlit black to gentle fuzz, then he was met by his Tallest.

“Almighty Tallest Miyuki, I was not expecting your call until tomorrow,” Zim said, trying to keep his tone level and free of his emotions. It didn’t work.

The blue-eyed Tallest tilted her head slightly to one side and laughed silently. “At ease, soldier. You’re troubled,” she began, smiling knowingly at the boy on her screen as he relaxed under her gaze. “Would you care to talk about it?”

The Irken Exile scoffed and crossed his arms tightly over his chest, glaring at his bedroom door beside the TV. When he continued to be silent, the Tallest only progressed with her playful pestering.

“It’s the girl isn’t it?” She smiled devilishly, resting her head in one of her clawed hands, one finger tapping thoughtfully on her cheek.

Zim narrowed his eyes farther, acting like a defiant child towards its mother. In a few ways, not that Zim would _ever_ admit it, that was a close representation, in his mind, of their relationship. “Human females irritate me.”

The Tallest gently closed her eyes and shook her head. “Zim, you know they are no better here. At least on Earth they are more willing to give affection, yes?”

At this he had to roll his eyes, dropping his arms while he swayed just a bit. “That’s my problem! She keeps showing me affection, but when she’s not, she’s mad at me. I don’t understand.” Zim rubbed at his temples, his right antenna twitching irritably.

“Well don’t tell me you’re giving up,” Miyuki pleaded half heartedly, raising her head slightly. “You know how unlikely it is for you to-“

“I know, I know.” Zim repeated, moving his hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose. “I’m just impatient, you know that,” he stated, smiling up at his taller.

Miyuki smiled back happily, knowing he took her teasing with good humor. “Anyhow, I realize my call is early, but a meeting came up last minute and unfortunately I can’t wiggle my way out if this one. But of course your report is ready, I assume.”

“Of course,” Zim assured, taking a step back to give himself room to send her the file. He held both hands out at a forty-five degree angle, a taskbar appearing on the bottom of the screen. He flipped his hands palm up and turned them fluidly as he brought his hands to where he would to use a keyboard. A holographic projector gave him one quite literally at his fingertips, and he typed away, the image of Miyuki shrinking to make room for another. He scrolled through his overflowing folders and highlighted his latest report, dragging it to the ‘send’ portal.

Within a few seconds a short ring echoed from Miyuki’s console. “Appreciated,” she said, copying the report to a small disk as an extra. “I will call within a few of your Earth weeks. This time I would like to see something more along the lines of ancient civilizations, as I trust the planet has them?”

Zim nodded once, already dreading it. Earth had too many and he hated doing research on things that didn’t interest him. “Yes, my Tallest,” he saluted, his right fist on his chest as he bowed shortly. Then the beautiful blue-eyed Tallest was gone.

Honestly, words didn’t exist to express how grateful he was for Tallest Miyuki’s kindness. She had given him another chance, a second chance, to erase his status as Exile. Ever since she was put into power, after having gone into hiding while her race presumed her dead, she had vowed to change things. Of all of the Tallests, she was the only one who could see the downward spiral the Irken race was taking, and knew that it was her sole purpose to return them their previous glory.

The two of them had had long conversations about how sick she was of the way their race had taken to using fear for gain. She could see the negative effects of cloning that would arise in the very near future, and, on some occasions, would hint at the way the Control Brains had been using Tallests as puppets for thousands of years to become the ultimate ‘race’.

All Zim had to do to redeem himself was provide her with information on Earth. She was hoping to use information of other planets, gathered by the numerous exiled Irkens, to aid her in turning their society around. He was a part of her Exile Redemption Initiative program, and he planned on taking full advantage of it.

In the meantime, he had Avery to deal with, as she was now and will forever be his top priority. Most of the time he spent thinking of her she was fleeting in his mind, just enough to bring his lips to tug in a small smile while he went about with his work. But other times it worried him dreadfully. Humans did not have the same ideas on mating as his people, and getting her to understand that and abide by _his_ customs would be difficult.

Hell, telling her that he was an alien exiled from another planet that was currently trying to redeem himself in the eyes of his people was going to be hard.

 _Shit_. He flopped onto his couch with little grace and made himself comfortable. _How the hell am I supposed to tell her_ that _?_ For the next several minutes he argued back and forth in his mind with himself on the subject, getting no closer to a solution.

With a sigh of defeat he moved from the couch, not wanting to get any more comfortable than he already was, and headed for the lab. He was hopeful that if he found something to toy with for the next few days it would ease his mind and let him relax.

Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly work out the way he had wanted, because the rest of the week was hell for him.

* * *

Zim didn’t get sight of Avery unless they shared class, but otherwise she seemed to pretend as though he didn’t exist. It angered him because how was he supposed to have her get to know him if she wouldn’t even give him the time of day? It upset Avery because she knew he was constantly worrying about her, but in her mind she believed she was doing him a favor by not letting herself get any closer, unaware that that simply wouldn’t fly with him at all.

Tuesday was tense and Avery felt like she had to avoid Zim at all costs, while he went around and tried to follow her, without raising suspicion of course. However, he was relieved that she had decided to stay for practice, knowing that she wouldn’t abandon her fellow dancers, even though she could barely stand them anyway.

Avery walked into the auditorium with deliberate steps and an uninviting sense of singularity that swirled around her like a thick, oppressing fog. She took her usual seat at one of the round tables in the back and went to work on changing her shoes.

On the days that neither group was drilling choreography, they split the stage time in half so that each team got an hour to learn steps or practice new material. Avery had insisted that the Irish group got the first hour.

Zim huffed in defeat, knowing that arguing would only upset her. He knew that as soon as they were done she would excuse herself and leave, and he wouldn’t be able to follow after her. _Giver her time, this’ll all blow over soon._

The Irish dancers clambered onto the stage, all of them happy to be the center of attention while their object of fixation would hopefully watch as they purposefully forgot the basics of form and posture in an attempt to get his attention. However, they were brutally let down as they noticed Zim was paying them no mind at all. The hour for them passed by heartbreakingly slow.

For Avery, on the other hand, it couldn’t go by quick enough. She sat in her chair, mechanically watching the girls dance and would scold them for the quality of their dancing. When they groaned and straightened up she went right back to pretending to watch.

“Hey,” someone said, startling Avery out of her daze.

She looked up, suddenly uncomfortable. The boy was part of the Hip Hop crew, tall and thin, darker skin than Jade’s, and short, cropped black hair. His gray hoodie was baggy and hung loosely around his arms and waist, but his jeans fit to his legs, and in the deep recesses of Avery’s mind she was slightly envious of his impressive calf muscles. “Hi,” she replied meekly.

He knelt down so that didn’t have to look up at him. “You haven’t been lookin’ so hot the past few days, you okay?”

 _Why the hell would come over and ask me tha-_ “Zim sent you, didn’t he?” Her eyes narrowed, her bored expression slipping slightly into the realm of irritated.

The boy only smiled and shook his head. “Nah, he wouldn’t do that, but he has been lookin’ over here about every five minutes.” He smirked knowingly, but it wasn’t nearly as attractive as it was on Zim.

Avery sighed and let her head drop out of her hand and onto the table. She didn’t reply to him, mostly because she didn’t really have anything to say. Thankfully, she didn’t have to after a few seconds.

“You know,” he started, looking slightly into his lap. “He’s really worried about you, maybe you could at least talk to him? Let him know why you’re avoiding him?”

“I told him we’d talk, and not to come looking for me until we do.” Her words were a little harsh, she might admit, but she never felt bad for it.

The boy rocked back and forth on his heels for a moment before responding. “Well, I guess that’s not really any of my business, but we all hope you’re as okay as you say.

She smiled at her before standing to walk back to his group, leaving Avery to her thoughts.

 _Why would he do that? He doesn’t even know me…_ She shook her head and forced herself to watch her dancers, once again nagging at them about their poor posture and horrid footwork. She spent the last fifteen minutes that way, groaning audibly for her dancers to hear just how fed up she was with them. When the hour was over she excused herself to Mrs. Gretchen and hastily fled the building, not once looking back.

 _We’ll talk Friday, I promise_.

* * *

 

Wednesday passed just as slowly as the previous for everyone, Jade included.

“Girl, you have got to lighten up, it’s been like… a week already. It never takes you this long to get back on your feet.” The tone in Jade’s voice suggested a motherly sort of banter.

Avery dropped her backpack to the floor and practically threw herself against the wall of the hallway. “That’s not what I’m worried about, Jade,” she said, her face growing slightly red as her tempter rose with no cause.

Jade pulled out of the thicket of teenagers and joined her friend, folding her arms in much the same way as Avery. “Well then, what _is_ the problem?”

Just as the redhead opened her mouth to speak, another girl stopped in front of her, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

“You know, as much as I hate you, I just wanted to let you know that I’m grateful for the way you’ve backed off.” Jen smiled snobbishly, her hands on her hips. “I think it was very smart of you, and it’s good that you realize you never stood a chance with him,” she continued, batting her eyelashes.

With her temper already rising, Avery didn’t have to do anything more than shove herself off the wall in Jen’s direction, snarling as she raised her hands as if ready to fight.

Jen squeaked and jumped, her eyes quickly narrowing in loathing at the shorter girl. “Whatever, just stay away from him!” After that she was nowhere to be seen, and Avery slunk back against the wall.

“ _That’s_ my problem,” she growled, shoving her hands into her pockets.

Jade quirked an eyebrow. “Jen? But you already messed her up, I don’t think she’ll-“

“No, Jade!” Avery instantly felt bad for raising her voice and glaring at the other girl as she did. 

“No, he’s my problem. I never wanted to, and sometimes I hate that I do, but I like him.”

For a moment Jade was silent, then she started to laugh, almost only to herself. “Hehe, I guess it worked then, didn’t it?”

At this, Avery did raise her voice, after scrambling through her brief state of shock, on purpose this time. “Jade! I can’t believe you! You made him do all those things!?”

Jade put up her hands in self defense, a grin still spread across her face. “Not all of it. Just the cookies and the poem, and maybe the compliments and hugs were my idea too,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

“So the only thing you didn’t tell him to do was drive me home the day it rained?” There was a hint of venom and slight sarcasm, and Avery knew her friend heard it.

“Whoa, what?” Jade dropped her hands, a look of shock replaced her grin. “You got _inside_ his car? What was it like? Did it have leather seats? Did he have one of those fancy ‘push to start’ things in it?”

Avery rolled her eyes, the anger subsiding. “No, but it looked way ahead of its time. It talked to him. And there was no start button, it had fingerprint recognition.”

Jade’s jaw hit the ground. “What!? But… that hasn’t even been invented yet!... Has it?”

For a second Avery contemplated her question seriously, then, “Stop it! I am in a serious dilemma here! And apparently it’s mostly your fault, so you’re going to help me out of it!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, out of it? Avery, he _likes_ you, and you obviously like him back. Why would you want to get out of it?” Neither Jade’s voice nor expression were very amused. In fact, she was a little disappointed that her hard work might be for not.

The bell rang and Avery gave her a look and a roll of the eyes, silently telling Jade that they’d finish their conversation at lunch. They split up and went to their classes, both trudging as they went.

For Avery, classes sped by in the blink of an eye, and she was dreading their conversation, but for Jade, she was anxious about what was really troubling her best friend. On her way to lunch, Jade did happen to come across Zim, but only gave him and apologetic glance and quickly averted her attention.

After getting her tray of suggestively edible food, Jade made her way to the back of the cafeteria, winding and weaseling her way through the clumps of people. She slid expertly onto the bench and stopped in front of Avery’s watchful eye. “Well, girl, lay it on me,” Jade started, mentally deciding what was safe to eat and what might potentially rearrange the molecules of her DNA, sliding anything in that category way off to the side.

Avery hid her face in her hands and whined. “You have to undo this, Jade,” she said in her most childlike voice.

Jade took a bite for what she assumed was mashed potatoes. “Nuh uh, I ain’t undoin’ all my hard work just because you don’t wanna face your feelings.”

The redhead groaned and dropped her arms and head, seeming to be already defeated. “But Jade, I can’t… Even if I wanted to there’s no way… She’d find out.”

Knowing exactly who the girl was referring to, Jade replied with, “She won’t if you don’t tell her.”

Avery looked up and peered at Jade from under her eyelids. She didn’t have to say anything to the other to let her know that she didn’t believe that statement in the slightest.

“Well, I don’t think he’s going to just give up on you,” Jade mumbled around her mouthful, waving her fork in circles.

With a sigh, Avery sat back up, looking hopelessly down at her arms, instinctively hugging them close. “Why me though?” She shook her head, suddenly angry. “He could have anyone, and he wants me. I’m different in all the wrong ways, so what does he want with me?” She looked accusingly up at Jade, silently demanding an answer.

Jade looked behind her, watching Zim draw patterns on the table while his friends made jokes and comments attempting to cheer him up. “Look, I don’t know what specifically he sees in you, but I think it’s obvious he won’t give up until you at _least_ give him a chance. Can’t you do that? Just a chance?”

Avery rubbed her temples and thought for a minute. _Maybe just one chance. I’ll give him a week, then he’ll see that I’m no good for him. I can hide it for a week._

And any other week, she might have been right.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I like the way this came out, considering fourteen difference scenarios ran through my head. But it what it is, maybe I'll go back and rewrite it way later if it doesn't grow on me. Also, this is the extent of the 'child and alcohol abuse'.

Zim came and went in the same dulled demeanor for the next two days, doing what he could to focus on the important things, and not caring that he was ignoring everything else. On the outside, he didn’t particularly come across as upset or aggravated, just preoccupied within his own mind.

Compared the past two days, Wednesday and Thursday seemed to breeze by, his classes easy and the lectures understandable. His crew had requested to stay late on Thursday, since they didn’t get to go through all of their material during their scheduled practice day. Zim had agreed, feeling that they really could use the extra practice, especially in the ways of formation changes, maybe he could throw in tutting if they got everything done.

They met up right after the bell rang, sitting on the stage while they waited for the space to clear. Zim watched in bafflement at the behavior of the teens, some of them nearly trampling and climbing over each other to get through the doors, others bulldozing and using their size to their advantage.

Once the rampant humans had cleared the room, Zim plugged in his iPod and put on a seven minute instrumental piece, turning his head to his crew members and nodding his head as a signal to begin. He joined a moment later and they spent a good hour and an half running through their newest routine, then learning new break steps from each other.

It didn’t occur to him until around four o’ clock, but Zim was actually enjoying himself, being around his friends and working himself until he was sweating. It reminded him very much of his days at the academy, where he was going through his martial arts drills in large groups, having the drill instructor praising them after a completed run.

“Alright guys, I think we’ve _all_ earned a break,” he said, wiping his arm across his forehead and shaking his damp hair. As his crew members fell to the stage floor and heaved for air, Zim stepped off the stage and went over to his messenger bag, pulling out a towel to dry himself off.

Once he was dried he pulled out an extra shirt and pulled the other one off, wrapping it up in the towel and slipping into his clean one. After everything was packed away he let himself ease into one of the seats, wincing at his sore legs.

They talked and laughed at each other for a good, solid ten minutes, their conversations not particularly about anything. In the midst of their childish banter, a sharp pinging noise sounded once, and then twice in rapid succession.

“Hey, could you toss over my phone?” Zim held his hands at the ready, vaguely wondering who would possibly be texting him. As he went to check his notifications he got a call instead, ‘Avery’. He stood quickly and put some distance between himself and the other. “Hello?”

Her voice came through is quick gasps between muffled sobs and terrified squeaks. In the background he heard a thick pounding noise and yelling, most likely female.

“Avery, Avery listen to me. Leave your window open and don’t move, do you understand me?” Zim’s voice was stern and hushed, a hint of rage tingeing the edges of his words. “I’m on my way.” He shouted to his crew that practice was over, and exited the room as fast as his legs would carry him.

Anger couldn’t begin to describe what he was feeling, and it led him blindly and swiftly to the girl’s house. He didn’t remember the drive over, but he was parked on the side of the road and was looking hatefully at the front of the house.

It was tall and rickety looking, the faded and washed colors making it appear much older than it might’ve been. Vines crept upwards and along the corners, seeping into the framework of the windows and curving around the edges of the roofing. The house looked sick.

Zim forced himself out of the depths of his mind and back into reality. Avery’s window was on the left side of the house, the only direct way to her, and there was no way for him to scale the side of the house on his own. He cursed, hating to be forced to rely on his PAK for things.

Technically, he didn’t really wear it, ever. He didn’t need to, after he removed the life-support system and neural link storage processors it was basically just a nifty gadget he could control with his mind without it latching back like a parasite. But using it still hurt like hell.

He dug it out of his messenger bag and slid out of his car, closing – but not locking – the door behind him. After a quick look to make sure the area was deserted he positioned the pod behind his back and braced himself for the pain. It immediately attached itself to him through his clothes, two wired needles plunging into his skin and tapping into his nervous system. He bit his tongue until he bled to keep from screaming, straining his claws as his body trembled.

The pain disappeared immediately, and Zim shook himself back to reality. Scaling the side of the house turned into a simple task, as he could use the adjacent house as leverage. The window was open as far as it would go and he made his body flush with the outside wall, peering inside to quickly survey the situation.

“You ungrateful bitch!”

Zim cringed as the bedroom door broke free of its hinges, hanging loosely against the wood. An older, dreadfully disheveled woman stumbled into the room. She had a hammer in one shaky hand and an empty bottle of what Zim figured to be an expensive brand of vodka in the other.

He’d tried vodka, along with various other types of alcohol, once and quickly decided that he did not like _it_ , and it did not like _him_. Whether it was just his anatomy or some such variable he didn’t care to find out, but from his unfortunately large sum of knowledge on the subject, he knew that this woman was drunk, and she was undoubtedly of the violent kind.

Trying to not waste time, he paused to watch her move about the room, finally noticing the other closed door. She swung the hammer at the hinges and the unmistakable squeak from Avery was just enough to let his rage take over and shove his brain into the dark, his deep Irken instincts putting him on autopilot.

The woman swung repeatedly at the door, eliciting a horrified ‘eep’ from the quivering teenager on the other side, desperately  trying to maintain her only line of defense. The hammer continued to bash at the hinges until the woman stopped, hearing a noise behind her.

Zim, raised nearly to the ceiling as his metallic legs splayed across the bedroom, narrowed his crimson eyes and hissed threateningly at the woman below him. The sudden fear on her face only fueled his desire to undo this woman at _her_ hinges. While she was petrified with fear he lowered himself to her level, fists clenched as he let out a predatorial screech.

Somehow the trembling woman was able to unbolt her feet from the floorboards and make a dash to the staircase, heading downstairs screaming for mercy.

When Zim was confident she wasn’t coming back after him and he at least had moment to himself, he retracted the legs and reactivated his disguise. “Avery, open the door.” He could hear her body shaking, making herself rigid and defiant against his words. “Please,” he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear.

Avery fumbled with the lock, then turned the knob and slowly opened the door. She leaned against the wall, clad in nothing but a shirt and her underwear. As Zim looked closer he saw a thick strip of bandages around her right thigh, blood gathering quickly.

He pulled her gently into his arms, helping her to the ground. She sat cross-legged in front of him, and he took both of her hands in his. “I need you to do _exactly_ as I say,” he said authoritatively, his eyes never leaving hers. When she nodded he continued, “Close your eyes and sing.”

She stared at him for a moment before complying, bowing her head and shakily voicing an Irish hymn. When she showed no signs of stopping Zim lifted her hands to her ears and kissed her gently before closing the door as far as he could without it touching her.

The wooden floor scraped under the tips of his spider legs, and his reflection was horrifying in the shattered glass of the broken vodka bottle. Perfect. He slid almost gracefully down the stairs and into the living room, his eyes scanning hungrily for the wretched old hag. The Irken found her huddling in a corner behind the kitchen bar, and got a wicked idea.

Rows of bottles lined the countertop, and he took them, one by one, into his hands, throwing them viciously at the opposite wall. “How dare you!” he screamed, hurling another bottle. “You _disgusting_ human!” Another bottle. “She’s your _daughter_!” Another. “You have _no right_ ,” – another – “to treat her this way!” Another. He paused and looked at the splatters of red wine, caramel colored rum, and rich dark liquor drip from the walls. When he heard the first whimper from the woman he continued his ministrations.

He smashed bottles on the countertop and threw them over the bar until there was none left and she was reduced to fitful sobs and cries of ‘monster!’. With a dark sense of fluidity he lifted himself over the counter and hovered above her. His lips pulled back, flashing his pointed, rigid teeth while he hissed gutturally.

Upstairs, Avery had been faithful in her singing, her emotions somewhere between calming and paranoid. She heard a sudden, high-pitched scream and stopped what she was doing. After a moment she noticed that the hall was dark, and there was faint echo of crunching glass. When she heard footsteps she pinched her eyes shut and clamped her hands back over her ears.

Zim slid carefully to the floor in front of her and pulled her hands away. “Come on, we’ve got to go,” he whispered, guiding her into his arms and lifting her bridal-style. He was relieved that she didn’t complain or ask questions, and he quickly moved her out of the house, across the street, and into his car.

When she was buckled in and the door was closed, he went around to the back of the car and removed his PAK, reopening his previous wound as he fought to stay silent. When the pod was removed he popped the trunk, tucking it away amongst various other things, then dug out a thick coat and slipped it on. When the trunk was closed he took his place in the driver’s seat, starting the car as quickly as he could.

“What did you do.”

He looked over at the girl, her head was hung only slightly, and she looked as though she was about to scream at him.

“We’ll talk when-“

“What did you do!” Her voice was hoarse and still quavered.

He sighed, shaking his head slightly. “I called the police, they’re on their way.”

For a short second, Avery was stunned. “You did _what_? Are you insane! Do you know what they’ll do to me? They’ll put me in foster care!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as tears welled in the corners of her eyes, burning hotter the longer she looked at him.

Zim glanced to meet her gaze. “They won’t, because they won’t be able to find you.” He said no more and left the awful house, a slight wave of cold clawing down his spine as rain started to fall gently.

After a while Avery clutched at the edge of her shirt and peered at Zim from the corner or her eye. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

He didn’t reply or gave any indication that he’d heard her, but she knew he did. Zim kept running himself ragged in his own mind, trying to formulate a plan of how he was going to keep her at his house without her finding out what he was. He knew she was smart, and if wasn’t extremely careful, she would probably be able to figure it out on her own.

The car pulled into the drive and Zim cut the engine, ordering Avery to stay put. He then slipped out of the car and over to the front door, opening it just enough to let himself in, then closed it behind himself.

Avery sat angrily with her fists digging into the fabric of her seat. Sure, she was glad to be out of that house and away from her mother, but she had no explanation for the animalistic noises she heard, and she had no idea what had happened the old woman. Of course, she didn’t believe Zim would really hurt her, but there was still no way of knowing, and now she was having to trust him. “Dammit, Avery, you just _had_ to fall for the freak, did you…” she cursed herself, looking over to the front door.

A moment later Zim walked out of the house, leaving the front door wide open. He strode over to the car and opened the door, holding his hands out to help the girl up. She smacked them away and glared coldly, easing herself to her feet and hobbling into the house under his watchful eye. When Zim closed the door behind her he was met with an onslaught of rage.

“What the _hell_ is wrong with you!” Avery put her hands firmly on his chest and gave him a solid shove. “I can’t believe you did that! Do you have any idea how wrong this is all is!? There was screaming and inhuman noises coming from downstairs, and the kitchen was a fucking mess! What did you do to my mother!” Her head spun suddenly, and he clutched at something to help keep her standing, taking in her surroundings.

The house was one-story, and looked a lot bigger on the inside than it did on the out. The living room was set a step into the ground, the round space harboring a large couch and rather impressive TV. The cabinets underneath held a wide range of video games – which wasn’t really that surprising – and a small unidentifiable black box. She was leaning against the bar counter, which separated the living room from the kitchen. When she peered over her shoulder it was actually really nice, without being very large. In the back hall, adjacent to the kitchen, was a single door which was opposite of another door just to the right of the TV. On the wall between them was a large set of sliding glass doors that led out into a small backyard.

Also, it was _way_ too empty.

Avery didn’t realize that she was halfway kneeling, almost falling over, until Zim’s slender arms wrapped around her and hoisted her up. She didn’t kick and fight him like she had wanted to, but she did make an effort to look displeased.

Zim led her through the door at the back of the house, then through the plain and empty bedroom, and into the large bathroom on the other side. Avery immediately noticed that the bathroom was way too large and luxurious to actually belong to the rest of the house. Especially with the elaborate closed in shower and large tiled jacuzzi tub, that probably could’ve fit four, set into the corner just under the two windows.

“Why is the bathroom so nice compared to the rest of your house? Did your parents never get around to remodeling everything else?” It was part sarcasm, part serious.

As gently as he could, Zim set her down on the edge of the tiled enclosure of the bathtub, moving to one of the cabinets under the sink. “ _I_ take pride in being clean, and I always do my best thinking in here,” He continued fishing around until he had a handful of everything he deemed necessary to properly fix her up.

“Wait,” Avery paused, picking through his words carefully. “You live here by yourself, don’t you?”

Zim nodded and closed the small door, setting the various things on the tiled floor at his feet while he knelt in front of her. Using a small pair of scissors he cut away the loosely wound bandages and set them aside. The cut was deep, but it was red and bleeding reluctantly. “What did-?”

“Kitchen knife,” the girl answered, completely nonchalant.

The Irken caught the dismissive attitude, his gut churning at how awful it was she was so used to such tortuous things. He went to work quickly in cleaning the sliced skin, being as gentle as he could so that she wouldn’t jerk under his touch. When he was satisfied he picked up a small jar and unscrewed the lid, the incandescent lights making the blue jelly-like substance glimmer when it jiggled. “This is going to be _really_ cold, try not to move.” He scooped out just enough and ran his thumb over the opened cut, trying not to push down.

Avery bit her lip and whined, tapping her other foot against the floor to keep herself from jerking away from him. The cold was so hot and she tried so hard not to flail, that she didn’t notice him wrap clean bandages around her leg, or that he cleaned up and carried her back into the bedroom. His voice was the only thing that snapped her out of it.

“Here, you can wear these until we go back for your things,” he said, tossing her a pile of clothing.

She looked up and was barely able react quick enough to catch the clothes with her hands. It was then that she realized how naked she was, and crossed her legs with embarrassment. As her face flushed with the idea of wearing his clothes, she pulled on the sweatpants carefully without hurting herself, keeping her eyes on him as he walked out of the room and closed the door to give her some privacy. When he was gone she pulled off her shirt, folding it neatly, and set it on the floor by the foot of the bed. She took his black shirt in her hands and brought it slowly to her nose, inhaling and letting her eyes flutter.

It was hard to admit it to herself, but she _loved_ the way he smelled, it was exotic yet slightly musky. But she hated show she kept finding new things about him that intoxicated her, like his lithe body type, devilish smirk, and the way he held her.

Forcing her mind away from him, she pulled the shirt on and slid off the bed, opening the bedroom door to find the boy. He was splayed out on the couch, wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants, a game controller in his hands.

Avery glared at nothing, internally cursing Zim for being so damn attractive, and flaunting it. She shuffled over, stepping down into the living room space, and took a seat at the end of the couch. She watched him play for a minute, noting how he expertly guided his thumbs over the buttons and analog sticks. She was never very good at playing video games, since she never had any, but she loved watching other people play, especially when they’re aggressive gamers that are _really_ good.

 _God dammit! Why does he have to make is so hard for me to_ not _like him!_ She cleared her throat to get his attention. “So, which Vampire Piggy Hunter is this?”

Zim angrily mashed a few more buttons, clearing himself of a mass of flaming pigs. “Castle Transylvania, Dracula’s the boss, and he’s a pain in the ass.” He continued onward, shooting at and slicing piggies as he went.

“I guess I wouldn’t have taken you for a VPH kind of gamer,” she replied, folding her arms and sinking back into the couch. Now she hated that she loved the way he was able to play _and_ have a conversation.

“Well, all of the old ones were basically rehashes of each other. This is the second console edition they’ve made, and it’s an RPG, so there’s a lot more to it than just killing pigs. That’s why I never really liked the early versions.” He talked very matter-of-factly, never taking his eyes off of his task.

Avery gave him another minute, before giving him another question. “So, how is it that you’re able to live here by yourself? I know you don’t work.”

A few seconds went by before Zim paused the game, lowering the controller. He chewed his lip in thought – another thing Avery ended up loving about him – while he thought about his answer. “Let’s just say… I inherited a small fortune.” He made it clear to drop the subject by restarting the game and play slightly more vigorously.

She knew he didn’t want to talk about it, but for whatever reason, she felt the need to push. “Well, where are your parents?”

This time, after Zim paused again, he turned his head to look at her. “Okay look, why don’t we set some ground rules?” He sat up and turned his body to fully face her, holding up a hand to count off on his fingers. “One, don’t ask me personal questions. Two, my bedroom is off limits. Three, if I ask or tell you to do something, it would benefit you to just do it without questioning me, got it?”

As she crossed her arms, Avery narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know that I appreciate the fact that you’re attempting to control me.”

Zim huffed and briefly closed his eyes. “I’m not trying to control you, these are for you own good, I swear.”

“How?”

He was seriously starting to get angry at this point. “Alright listen, there are things about me that you don’t know. Big things. I have a lot of secrets, and until I’m comfortable knowing that you’ll be able to fully accept them without judgment, they are going to _stay_ secrets. So you _will not_ ask me about them or go snooping around for answers.” He set his jaw firmly, as he refused to speak further on the subject.

After that, the two didn’t speak until Avery decided to go to bed, saying a quick gaelige goodnight, “Oíche mhaith,” as she rose for the guest bedroom. Zim nodded in response, but otherwise kept to himself.

The clock read eleven after nine when Avery slipped into bed, pulling the covers up and almost over her head while she buried her face into the pillows. It didn’t take her nearly as long as she would’ve thought to fall asleep, the light throbbing on her leg exhausting her quickly. The next time she woke up the clock read two a.m.

Zim was startled out of his bed, practically falling to the floor, when a shrill cry pierced the late night air of the house. He quickly got to his feet, nearly forgetting his disguise, and yanked his bedroom door open. The living room was empty, so he made his way silently to the guest bedroom, the faint noises of whimpers on the other side becoming clear when he opened the door. “Avery?”

The girl sat upright in the bed, the thick comforter thrown off to the side and the pillows strewn everywhere. She was clawing at her arms as if to pry something off, babbling to herself about “I didn’t do it” while tears streamed down her face.

“Hey, easy,” Zim walked slowly over to the bed, careful not to startle her as he slid onto the bed next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He rocked her back and forth to get her to calm down, whispering softly in her ear.

Avery quieted and let her arms alone, her previously wide eyes drooping as she relaxed. Zim laid her back down in bed, gathering a few of the pillows, and reached for the comforter, dragging it back onto the bed. He watched as she drifted off to sleep, hearing her heartbeat slow and her breathing silencing.

For the next hour or so he stayed on the edge of the bed, quietly hushing her if and when she began acting up. Once he was sure she was soundly asleep he stood and exited the room, leaving her bedroom door open, just in case.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's where I attempt to cute. Be warned, I don't know how quickly this will get sexual, but I'll keep it as tasteful for as long as I can.
> 
> If anyone is interested in fanart for this fic, there's a deviantART link on my profile page.

When Avery woke up she felt as though her left leg was numb, and getting out of bed proved to be quite a challenge. She nearly fell to the floor, but was able to steady herself against the bedside table before she hurt herself further. After she was able to navigate her way out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, she quickly spotted a chair behind the bar and made for it.

“Good morning,” Zim said over his shoulder, hearing the girl’s struggling steps on the carpet. “Breakfast?”

Avery clambered onto the chair, which was extra difficult due to her height. Once she was able to situate herself, she rubbed her eyes and replied. “Um, I guess? What time is it?”

“A little after nine.” He pulled a small knife out of its block and Avery had to lean a little to see that he was cutting apples.

“So I take it we’re getting a three-day weekend,” she asked rhetorically, holding her head in her hands.

Zim set the knife in the sink and moved to the pantry, fingering through a few things before returning with a jar of dark chocolate peanut butter. “I wasn’t going to send you to school after last night, no matter how ‘fine’ you might’ve told me you were. Besides, we’ll need the day to pack up your things.”

Avery groaned, but her grumpiness was short-lived, her face lighting up as Zim handed her a bowl of apple slices with a hefty dollop of the chocolate peanut butter. “Alright,” she agreed, sparing no time in satisfying her stomach. “As long as we’re in and out, I don’t want to hang around.”

Breakfast passed smoothly and, after Zim cleaned up and got dressed, the two got into his car and they headed for the house. It was still early morning, so Zim hoped the cops wouldn’t be around, otherwise they’d have to ditch and come back. When they pulled up to the house it was vacant, but caution tape had been strung across the door and around the edge of the property.

“Why the caution tape?” Avery queried, sliding out of the car. When she was given no answer she hurried across the street and ducked underneath the yellow boundary. “Come on, there’s a broken window in the back, I used to sneak in through it when mom locked me out,” she explained, wading through the tall weeds along the side.

Zim hurried to catch up, following her exact footsteps. “Why did she lock you out?” He honestly didn’t think the old woman could’ve disgusted him anymore than she already had.

Avery turned the corner and located the window, feeling for the broken latch. “If I was a few minutes late coming home, she’d lock the door and shut me out,” she answered, adding, “After the first time I slept outside, I broke the latch on this window so that I could let myself in.” She heaved the window open and expertly climbed through.

_Nope, I hate her even more now._ Zim furrowed his brow in frustration, slipping just as gracefully inside. He followed her into the kitchen – noting how the mess was still there and the note he’d left for the police was gone – and up the stairs to her bedroom.

Even though it was early in the morning, Avery’s bedroom was just as bleak and dusty as it had been the night before. The floorboards creaked and looked worn, her walls weren’t painted, and the ceiling fan spun tiredly and slow. The double closet doors squeaked quietly when the girl pulled them open, and the space inside was cramped, which made the room feel bare.

Zim took a seat on her bed, one of the few pieces of furniture, and let his eyes fall to the floor. He saw the drag marks and puncture holes from his PAK legs, and he followed them up the walls and spotted a few on the ceiling. _I really hope she doesn’t ask about those…_

“Alright, you can start packing up my books and folding my clothes on the bed – but keep my hangers, I need those – and I’ll get you boxes when I get out of the shower,” Avery stated, peering through her closet and grabbing a change of clothes before disappearing into the bathroom.

With a sigh, the boy stood and began pulling books off of the shelves in the shallow closet, trying not to pay much attention to the titles. However, one caught his eye, ‘Mysterious Mysteries: The Alien Agenda’, a soft cover book about an inch thick. _I’ve seen this book before, except it belonged to Di-_ “No,” he stopped himself, shutting his eyes tightly to put it all back into the depths of his unconscious where it belonged.

After that he only noted the number of alien related titles, slightly alarmed – but also vaguely comforted – that the girl he planned to spend the rest of his life with had a small interest in the alien concept. _Maybe it won’t be so hard?_ He thought, the final tally coming to a surprising eleven.

“You don’t think I’m weird, do you?”

Zim jumped and nearly lost the stack in his hands, his face turning pink when he realized he had been startled. “What? Why?”

Avery took the books from his arms and laid them in a pile on the floor with the others. “People used to laugh at me because I believed in aliens, so I stopped talking about it. You won’t laugh, will you?” She gave him scowl, a warning of sorts in a slightly pleading sort of way.

He smiled and chuckled silently, pulling the last few books from the shelf and handing them to her. “Of course not, besides… I think you’re right to.”

She looked back at him over her shoulder. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he started, then paused. “I guess you could say I do too, but I kind of have to.” He stopped there, not wanting to give too much away, and started pulling clothes off of the rack. “We’re going to need boxes,” he said, mostly to himself.

Avery replied under her breath and left the room, her footsteps clunky and thick against the rickety staircase. A moment later she returned with an armful of boxes and heavy duty tape, going to work on giving them shape. “So…”

Zim gave her a moment, setting another pile of clothes onto her bed. “So?”

She sighed, her eyes falling to her hands. “I promised myself we’d talk today,” she replied, then reached for her books and began to fit them clumsily into one of the boxes.

“Oh,” said softly, pausing in his motions for a split second before returning to work. “What exactly did you want to talk about?”

She bit her lip and thought for another moment about how she wanted to word it. “Well, I guess it’s obvious at this point you’ve got a kind of thing for me…”

He scoffed and let his shoulders bounce a little. “If you don’t mind, it’s a little more than just a thing, but that’s not the point, I’m assuming?”

Avery shook her head slightly. “Not exactly… I mean, yes, and in a minute I’m going to ask you why, but…” She wiggled around uncomfortably on the floor, twiddling her thumbs nervously as she tried not to watch him move to sit in front of her on the floor. She had to fight herself to not jerk away when he brushed her hair from her face. “I told you that you made me like you... And I do, and I guess maybe it’s not really all your fault, but… I’m scared to.”

Zim kept his eyes down, sliding his fingers gently down the length of her forearms, slowly sliding his hands around hers. “You aren’t afraid of _me_ , are you?”

For a moment she remained silent, then, “No, well… No, I don’t think so. I feel like it’s not so much you, as the idea. I don’t like people, and people don’t like me, and that’s the way it’s always been.” She let her fingers close lightly around his, smiling internally. “The concept of being with someone was never really something I thought about, so I just don’t know… what to do? I mean, I get how they work in theory, but everyone always tells me it’s way different in practice.”

He smiled even though he knew she couldn’t see, and leaned forward, gently nuzzling the top of her head. “Well, if you’re really that worried, then I guess I can tell you a secret,” he said softly, rubbing small circles on the backs of her hands. She hummed curiously, and he continued. “I’ve never been with anyone before.”

At this she pulled away and looked up, confused by what he had said. “What? How? You’re…”

“Pretty?”

“Perfect.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” – “I would” – “But my point is, I’m just as, if not more, afraid than you are, I can promise you that.” He giggled as she continued to display signs of frustration and confusion. “What?”

Avery shook her head again. “It doesn’t make sense – _you_ don’t make sense. Not only have you not ever been in a relationship, which I don’t know if I believe, but you pick _me_? Why?”

His little fit of giggles raised in pitch for only a moment before dying away. “I don’t really know if I can explain how or why, but I’ve been told love is blind and doesn’t always need a reason,” he offered, knowing she wouldn’t be entirely satisfied.

Her face flushed deeper at his mentioned ‘love’ and she hunched her shoulders slightly. “That’s really cheesy, but I guess I can-“

They looked up and silenced at the sound of a car pulling into the drive. Without a word Zim pulled the girl to her feet and silently ran down the steps and into the back office where they entered, slipping through the window before the front door opened.

An unmarked police car sat in the stone driveway, its occupants already inside snooping around the house. Zim whispered quietly and they made for his car, which was parked inconspicuously away from the house. They ran on their toes the whole way across the street, both looking over their shoulders to make sure they hadn’t been caught, breathing a sigh of relief when they were safely in the car.

“Wait,” Avery breathed, looking towards the house. “Won’t they see that my room is all messy?” She turned her look of concern towards Zim.

He thought for a moment, “Don’t worry, I’ll come back for it,”

“But-“

“I’ve got it covered.”

Avery didn’t argue anymore, and was silent the entire ride home. Zim dropped her off at his house, telling her to relax and find something to occupy herself that wasn’t poking around. She scowled and rolled her eyes, disappearing inside when he took off again.

The clock read a few minutes past noon and Avery knew lunch had just gotten started at the school, so she hunted down her phone in preparation for Jade’s call of concern. It came within a few minutes and Avery took a seat on the back porch, her long-sleeved sweater-shirt- offering warmth in the mid-day coolness.

“Hey Jade,” she sighed into the phone, slightly dreading the conversation. “No, I know, and I’m sorry.” She rolled her eyes at her friend’s patronization. “Yeah well, I sort of wasn’t allowed to come in today, and I slept in anyways…” She paused for the accusatory bitching to subside, then recounted the previous night’s events. It took her a good ten minutes, and every few seconds Jade tried to interrupt or interject. “I have a pair of bloody pajama pants if you want proof… I know, and so do I… Really? How much longer do you think she would’ve lasted?... Exactly, and at least I’ll never have to see her again, I hope… Uhh... you’ll never guess?” Avery winced as Jade screamed into the phone. “So what he’s a guy! And I know I don’t really know him that well, but so far he’s been nothing but kind to me! He saved my life, Jade, what else does he need to do to prove I can trust him?”

For the next half an hour, the two argued back and forth about Avery’s current living situation, and how Jade would do horrible and unspeakable things to him if he ever “tried anything”. At this Avery retorted very hotly, her voice full of embarrassment. She was so caught up with Jade’s accusation that she didn’t notice Zim had come home.

He took the opportunity to smuggle in all of Avery’s boxes, fully packed and sealed. In order to fit them all into his car, he had brought with him one of his experimental infinite storage cubes, figuring it was a good testing opportunity.

While he went unnoticed, he snuck the small cube into the guest bedroom and began to remove the boxes as quickly as he could. When he was sure they were all un-cubed, he slipped by the sliding glass doors and into his room to store away the small device.

“Oh hey, that was fast… How’d you get past the cops?” The glass door slid shut as Avery stepped back into the house, pocketing her phone.

Zim smiled sheepishly, “I wouldn’t ask, if I were you. Come on, I’ll help you unpack.” He led her to the bedroom and pulled open the double closet doors, thankful that even though it was similar to hers at the other house, this one was much more spacious.

They spent a good portion of the afternoon sorting out and filling the closet, Zim making trivial comments on some of her books and other knick knacks, while Avery prodded a little more into his private life. Neither of them would yield much insight, but it was almost like a game, to see who could make the other crack first.

“Oh, I found this,” Zim reached into one of the boxes and pulled out a manila folder. “I figured… you deserved to know. I would’ve felt bad if I kept it from you.” He handed over the folder, Avery looking suspiciously at him.

Inside was a stack of papers and files, along with a large portrait photo. On top was a short letter addressed to a place called ‘Valley View’ solely from Avery’s mother. She scanned it and instantly found it uninteresting, proceeding to the next file, a portfolio. It was of her, when she was very small, maybe no older than four. It included her birthday, her height, weight, and other trivial things, but lacked an address.

Zim sat in silence as he watched her shuffle through the contents, waiting for her to realize what they were. He fidgeted anxiously while her expressions bounced back and forth between boredom and confusion.

Near the bottom of the pile was a large picture of the placed stated as ‘Valley View’, and upon closer inspection, she realized what it was. Flipping hastily back through the other documents she only confirmed her conclusion. “I was adopted.”

As Avery’s face filled with hatred, Zim gently pulled the folder from her hands and set it aside. He waited for her to react, but instantly regretted it. She sprung to her feet and made for the door.

“That lying _bitch_!” She threw open the sliding glass doors and stormed out into the cool weather, Zim hot on her heels. He put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, asking for her to wait, but she jerked from his grasp. “She gave me medicine because she told me I was _sick_!” She faced him now, tears welling in the corners of her eyes, held in place by pride. “She took me to a therapist because she told me there was something _wrong with me_!”

In her brief pause, Zim tried to reach out to her in comfort, but he was shoved forcefully backwards and nearly lost his balance from sheer surprise. He watched guiltily as she paced around in the yard, screaming hateful things and recounting all of the wrong she had been done by the woman.

“When I was eight she told me my father never loved me, she convinced me that men were evil.” She continued on, her hands shaking. “When I was eleven she told me stories about how awful the world was, and I feared it.” Now she sat against the wall of the house. “And when I was fifteen she threatened to home school me because I talked too much to other people.”

When she was quiet, Zim moved from his place in the grass and slid to the ground next to her. “I’m so sorry…” he whispered, resting his head on top of hers and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

She shook her head let him hold her for a minute, saying, “I guess I should be glad that I was never actually related to her… but now I’ll never know if it was because they couldn’t take care of me, or…” Pride wasn’t enough to keep her tears at bay any longer, and she drew her knees close and hid her face from him.

Zim removed himself from her side and walked quietly back into the house, looking over his shoulder once only because he couldn’t help himself. When the door was closed behind him, he forced his eyes away and decided to busy himself, realizing he hadn’t cleaned the house in a few days. As much as he was anal about the appearance of the house level of his base, it often puzzled him why he was not so passionate about cleaning the lower levels. With a dismissive shrug, he went about his business, deciding to begin at the back of the house and work his way outwards.

Avery had stayed outside for nearly two hours, but because the clouds covered most of the sky, there was an eerie feeling of timelessness. It could’ve been late evening for all she knew, but that wasn’t something that would’ve bothered her. She didn’t know how cold she was, she didn’t notice that her fingers were numb, or that the tear stains on her cheeks burned with cold fire.

“Hey.”

She turned her head slightly, and she could see Zim standing in the doorway out of the corner of her eye. Avery didn’t reply or offer to speak, she even turned her head away so she couldn’t see him.

He was silent for a moment, then offered, “I made hot chocolate.” He was relieved to get her interest, but she didn’t move from where she sat. “With marshmallows.”

At this she knew she was defeated, forcing herself to her feet and suddenly realizing how cold her bones were. Avery wrapped her warms around herself and hurried inside, shouldering past him clumsily. She made for the couch and possessively curled up in a spot she was deeming her own.

Zim picked the mugs up from the counter and walked around to the other side of the couch, handing one over to the shivering girl in front of him. He watched her from over the brim of his mug, smiling slightly as her eyes fluttered at the warmth of the hot chocolate running down her throat. A light blush colored his cheeks and he looked away, deciding to distract them both with whatever might be on TV.

They settled for an older cheesy chick flick, and Avery was surprised to hear that Zim was very fond of the genre, teasing him about being more feminine on the inside that he was letting on to everyone else.

“Oh come on, just because you’re feminine doesn’t mean you have to be strictly dickly, you still be into girls, too!” she laughed, holding onto her mug for its last waves of warmth.

He glared playfully, a smirk dancing across his lips. “I’m sure if you could see me in bed, you might retract that feminine comment.” He laughed when Avery sneered in disgust, turning his attention back to the movie.

Avery’s face burned with the rush of blood to her cheeks, and she ducked shyly under the blanket she had found, curling in on herself as much as she could. _What a fucking perv! I can’t believe he just said that to my face!_ When her embarrassment subsided, the feeling was replaced with light butterflies in her stomach. She willed them away and sternly kept her mind in one place, forcing herself to focus on the movie.

They watched and loosely talked about the rest of that movie and the entirety of the one that came on after that. As the darkness grew colder and night tipped on the edge of the next day, Avery fell asleep.

Zim shut off the TV and shouldered out of his blanket, then reached over to carefully remove the mug from the girl’s hands, taking them both back to the kitchen. He set them gently into the sink and returned to the living room, formulating in his mind how to best move her to the bedroom.

He pulled the blanket from around her shoulders and laid her hands into her lap. Then, as carefully as he could, he slid one arm under her legs and the other around her back. She stirred lightly when he lifted her from the couch, but was otherwise undisturbed as he carried her into the guest room. She hadn’t made her bed, so tucking her in was easy and she showed no signs of waking up.

Before he left her alone, he leaned down and brushed her hair from her face, placing a feather-like kiss on the edge of her lips. He then left her to sleep and closed the door silently behind him, keeping his footsteps unheard as he made his way through the kitchen.

There was a space of wall between the fridge and the counter, and he had admitted to himself that it did look out of place, but he also knew he wouldn’t ever change it. Lifting a hand, he placed it firmly against the surface, a light rippling under his palm. The wall hissed quietly and a large portion pulled away and slid into the floor, revealing a slope down into a small chamber with the lift. He disappeared into the dimly lit hall, the door closing behind him seamlessly.

The house was quiet that night, and a light rain began to patter against the windows.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here's my first attempt at steamy romance, and it's probably a horrible failure, but they say practice makes perfect. Also, the opinions expressed at the end of this chapter are not necessarily my own, I'm just an avid watcher of Ancient Aliens. Don't hate.

The next morning, Avery had requested to spend the weekend at Jade’s, telling Zim that she didn’t want her emotional instability to flare up again and upset him. He argued at first and promised that she wouldn’t be a bother, but quickly realized that giving her space might be a good idea.

He sent her off early in the morning when the light haze was still clinging to the grass, and the cold nipped at the skin. After double checking that she had a thick jacket and extra bandages, he guided her into his car. He had dropped her off and was back at the house before an hour had passed.

Zim was tempted to curl up on the couch with a cup of hot tea and his video games, to neglect his homework for the entire weekend. But his report for Tallest Miyuki called to him, and he knew if he didn’t do the brunt of the work while he had the house to himself, he wouldn’t get another chance later.

With a sigh he let his feet guide him faithfully to the lower depths of his labs, his mind wandering and skirting between his report and how he was going to “come out of the closet”, as he’d heard humans say before. But before he knew it, he was sitting in his little research pod, splayed out irritably on the heavily cushioned chair. The monitors in front of and all around him were dark, displaying the Irken insignia in red.

Shaking the thoughts from his head, he went to work on what he had previously assumed would be a tiresome report. At first he was dreading the subject, not caring enough to try and make it interesting. However, he soon came across several theories depicting otherworldly forces and beings having had an influence on the evolution of the Earth human race.

It baffled him how often and how deeply the humans had been previously intervened by other beings, and how they were still so collectively ignorant. For quite a few hours he had fallen off track, and he had to force himself to get back onto his original subject. After that, he was able to eagerly delve into the topic, having the majority of the report done in what he had assumed was only a few hours.

His phone vibrated relentlessly in his pocket, and with a huff of annoyance, he pulled it out to look as who could’ve called. Avery’s name flashed brightly and he was confused. Had she forgotten something? He called her back, just to be sure.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked blandly, his eyes still scanning through the information on his screen. “ _It’s Sunday!?_ ” he exclaimed, falling limply against the cushions behind him. “Wow… I guess the time got away from me. Yeah, I’ll be right over.”

In a daze, he saved what he had and hurried to the house floor, mentally and physically double checking to make sure he had activated his disguise. The drive to Jade’s house was nearly nonexistent for him, and he hardly noticed when Avery slid into the car.

“Are you okay?” she asked, shaking his shoulder lightly.

Zim stiffened, and then relaxed again. “Yeah, yeah, I’m alright.” He drove off down the road, honking the horn and smiling at Jade as she waved them off. “So, how was your weekend?”

Avery smiled when he leaned over to scratch the back of her head through her short hair. “It was really nice, we talked a lot.”

He nodded his head and put his hand back on the steering wheel. “I’m sure you guys talked a lot about me, right?” He smiled knowingly, stealing a glance to watch her expression, noticing how her cheeks darkened a shade.

“Well, yeah, it was kind of hard not to. But they were all good things, I promise.” She smiled as she thought back to her and Jade’s conversations, twiddling her thumbs in her lap.

“Oh? Do tell~” he prodded, smirking in the way he had figured out that she loved so much.

She was silent for a moment, picking through what she was comfortable telling him and what she wasn’t. After a moment of consideration, she recounted the conversations on what they had dubbed Zim’s nobility in saving her life, and how grateful Jade was that Avery wasn’t living with her mother. Although, she was concerned about Avery being alone all the time with someone of the opposite gender without supervision.

“Oh come on, what’s she so worried about? What am I gonna do?” Zim smiled to himself, mostly for Avery’s sake as he knew damn well what he wanted to do. More than once the fantasy of getting to know just how soft her Irish skin would feel against his curious fingers flashed through his mind. From her thin ankles, up her strong calves, around her toned thighs, and right around-

“Hey!”

“What?” Startled, Zim jerked slightly in his seat, his holo disguise turning his knuckles white. “I’m sorry, I zoned out for a minute,” he said sheepishly, forcing the blood out of his cheeks.

Avery huffed and crossed her arms, then resumed where she left off. “As I was saying, bottom line is, Jade wanted me to let you know that she’d castrate you if you ever did anything to make me feel uncomfortable.”

Zim turned his head and half glared at her. “I’d like to see her try,” he scoffed, his smirk instantly returning at the thought of Jade trying to figure out how his anatomy worked. With a silent chuckle, he shook his head, pulling into the driveway.

He turned off the car and locked it behind Avery, then walked her to the front door to let them in. “She fed you, didn’t she?

“Don’t talk about food, I’ll throw up,” Avery waved at him to shut up and stepped inside, kicking her shoes off by the door. Without another word, she disappeared into her bedroom and closed the door, emerging in a pair of plaid pajama pants and a cami, her hair slightly frizzled. She found Zim sprawled on the couch in his usual ‘sweatpants only’.

Not realizing he was being watched, Zim remained where he was, one leg falling over the side of the couch, the other bent at a comfortable angle, and both arms crossed behind his head. He barely noticed the girl move in his vision, but didn’t fully register her presence until she had crawled op top of him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. “Well hi.”

Avery groaned against his skin, noting how his breath hitched, and snuggled closer. She smiled when he wrapped his arms around her, letting herself indulge in his warmth and essence. Jade had convinced her that trying not to feel would only make her suffer in the end, she was testing the waters to see what she could get away with while remaining close to her comfort zone.

She focused on how he gave her slight hints of attention, running his fingers through the shorter hairs on the back and top of her head, how he would sneak his hand under the hem of her top and ghost his fingers over her skin, and how he adjusted his hips just enough so that he was flush against her.

They laid together comfortably until Avery’s breathing began to slow, and Zim declared it was time for bed. He helped her to her feet and walked her to her room, one arm firmly around her waist and the other ready to help catch her. When she crawled into bed he hovered close just to be sure, quickly realizing that that might’ve been a mistake.

As Zim attempted to tuck her in and leave, she drowsily latched onto his wrist, tugging weakly for him to stay. He tried to protest, but the pitiful look her eyes melted his resolve, and the tightness in his chest willed him to stay. Part of him was overjoyed that he was getting the opportunity to sleep in such close quarters, so he held onto that feeling and curled protectively around her as she got comfortable.

The night was cool and still, and even though Zim never fully slept, he dozed deep enough to both fully relax and still watch over the girl sleeping in his arms. Every time she stirred or shifted closer he purred quietly, nuzzling the top of her head. It was the first time in a long time that he’d been truly content, and renewed his determination to forever make her his.

When the sun peaked in through the window Zim had let himself fall deeper into the darkness, no longer coherent or aware of his surroundings. The light drifted in and his eyes fluttered open, making him groan internally at being awakened. However, when his eyes focused and the feeling came back to his body, his cheeks instantly burned.

Avery had turned to face him, her head tilted up while her arms were pulled in close. One leg was wedged between both of his while the other was wrapped lazily over his hip, and their lips were only a breath apart.

He closed his eyes quickly, forcing himself not to tense or move away from her. When he calmed and opened his eyes again, he smiled. She seemed so peaceful to him, her eyes moving slightly and her fingers twitching as she dreamed. He ran his fingers through her hair, whispering for her to wake up, not bothering to move or put space between them.

The girl reluctantly opened her eyes, her hands feeling for warmth and pressing lightly against the other’s chest. She grumbled incoherently, waiting for her vision to focus, internally blushing as she saw Zim’s smiling face and half lidded eyes peer down at her. Then she noticed how close they were.

“Good morning,” he said softly, his hand trailing down to rest on her shoulder.

Avery blushed furiously and jerked away in her embarrassment, trying desperately to untangle herself from him. “G-good morning…” she stammered, holding her hands close to her face in defense. “I… don’t remember you coming in.”

Zim color quickly matched hers and he sat up a little. “Oh, uh… when I walked you to bed last night you… kind of wouldn’t let me leave…”

At this the girl scowled, fighting through her morning fogginess to bring back memories of last night. Her face burned when she remembered pulling him down onto the bed with her by the wrist, and she apologized profusely for her behavior.

He smiled back and laughed a little, sitting the rest of the way up. “Don’t be sorry, I was happy to stay,” he replied, soothing her nerves as far as he could tell.

The two decided not to skip school, and through the rest of the morning and well into the early afternoon, Avery’s cheeks were hot and her heart beat rapidly. Every time the two met in the hall she smiled and waved until he couldn’t see her, then she curled in on herself.

In a way, it angered her that she was so off put around him, even though she had come to terms with that fact that she had fairly strong feelings for him. She wanted to be able to hold and kiss him without constantly feeling timid or embarrassed. There wasn’t any reason she could see where she should feel anything but comfortable around him, especially since he had been such a gentleman thus far.

With a sigh she forced herself to go through the rest of the school day without dwelling upon her troubles too much, other than occasionally mentally slapping herself for not closing the gap when she had the chance earlier. _You should’ve just kissed him you idiot, he was RIGHT THERE. Dia, why am I such a wuss?_

When the final bell rang she begrudgingly made her way to his car, not looking forward to the confrontation as to why she seemed so upset. And that was another thing that bothered her, to him, she was an open book, he saw right through her like she was made of glass.

“Why the long face?”

“God dammit!” She cursed, stomping the rest of the way while he followed close behind.

Zim unlocked the car as she scowled at him from the other side, and internally considered panicking. What she mad at him? Did he do something? He hoped not. He didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her wrath. When the doors were closed and they were alone, he decided to prod the matter again. “Are you alright?”

Avery sulked angrily in her seat, her brow furrowed and her lips pursed. “Not really… I mean, yes, I am fine. But I’m irritated.”

Giving her a moment to pout, he started the car and pulled off the campus. When he was safely on the road heading to the house, he pushed a little more. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, scratching the back of her head gently.

She let out a breath she was holding and hung her head a little more. “Not really, because it’s kind of embarrassing, but I don’t know what else to do about it.”

He removed his hand and glanced at her, his heart sinking just a bit. “If you don’t want to, you don’t-“

“No, I should. Maybe if I tell you, it’ll go away.” She sat up and took a deep breath, nestling her hands between her knees to prevent herself from getting distracted. “I know that I really like you and I’ve come to terms with the fact that I have really strong feelings for you so I’m not afraid of that anymore – “ She took another breath and continued. “ – But I think my problem now is that I get really embarrassed or something close to being uncomfortable without actually being uncomfortable whenever I’m around you and – “ another breath, “ – And it makes me feel awful because I want to be able to be close to you without – “

Zim held out a hand to stop her, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “Wait,” he said, an undertone of authority vaguely present. She stopped and blushed at him, but obediently closed her mouth. “We’re almost home, we’ll talk there.”

Both were silent the rest of the way home, even though the tension was nearly tangible. They entered the house without a word, and as soon as Avery had dropped her stuff by the door, Zim took her hand in his and led her to her room. She made no noise of complaint, but nervously wondered why she was made to sit on her bed, and why Zim closed the door behind them.

He sat cross legged in front of her, looking down into her eyes patiently. “You’re really worried about all that?”

Avery ducked her head and drew her knees to get chest. “Yeah, I am. And maybe it’s a stupid thing to worry about, but I can’t help it.”

For a moment Zim contemplated her words, devising a plan to hopefully rid the girl of her timid nature towards him. When he decided on his approach – one that he admittedly knew may or may not make the matter worse – he leaned in close and twined their fingers together as best he could. “Do you trust me?”

She closed her fingers awkwardly around his, smiling inwardly at the slightly unnatural feeling. After picking through her brain and thinking carefully about her answer, having a gut feeling as to what he really meant, she nodded her head with a faint, “Yes.”

Zim leaned in closer and hovered his lips by her ear, whispering, “Close your eyes, and tell me when to stop.” He felt her stiffen, then relax. When he was sure she was alright, he dipped his head and breathed softly against her lips, giving her a chance to stop him. As he moved in to kiss her, she leaned forward and finished for him.

He shuddered, and she smiled into his lips, letting her hands trail upwards to rest on his shoulders. He only paused for a moment, then regained control, putting a hand on her chest and pushing her backwards onto the bed, never breaking contact. His heart fluttered when she gripped him tighter, and he held one hand behind her neck possessively.

He let her get used his dominant nature, hovering his body over hers and giving her little room to move. As she began to push harder against him, he flicked his tongue out and tested her, dragging the tip between where her lips parted.

Avery arched her back, involuntarily opening her mouth. He left sparks in her nerves where he licked her, and she loved it, pulling him closer so he’d kiss her deeper. She was rewarded as he plunged his tongue inwards, licking the roof of her mouth and wrapping his tongue around hers.

They continued their little game, Zim pushing for more, causing Avery to gasp or whimper, which made him push even harder. He noticed her submissive disposition, and carefully took that into account, deciding to push the situation a little farther to see how she’d react.

Carefully, he tugged the hem of her shirt up, still engaging in their kiss. She shifted against him when his pressed his hand against the skin of her stomach, rocking her hips slightly as he moved his hand upwards and rested it softly in the shallow of her breasts. She arched into his touch, moving her hands away from his shoulders to the sides of his face in an attempt to pull him closer. He smiled, and traced a line down her center, then slid his hand underneath her and pressed on the small of her back, his fingers just under the hemline of her jeans.

She breathed into his mouth and rocked her hips upwards, her hands wrapping around his waist and forcing him down. Zim complied, pressing his hips firmly against hers, matching her eager moans with subtle growls of his own, having to consciously control his pitch.

It was hard for him to suppress his instincts, his will and drive to take her, even though he knew that she wasn’t ready, and technically, neither was he. There was everything he had to tell her still, things that she needed to understand, before they’d be able to go all the way. For a split second he was worried, that maybe one day he _wouldn’t_ be able to control himself, and in going too far he would give up his secrets.

Avery went still, but didn’t open her eyes. “Are you okay?” she whispered, feeling that he was still close, but no longer engaged.

Zim exhaled, breathing out a “Yeah,” and pushing himself off of her into a sitting position. He ran his fingers through his wig, aware of his antenna twitching in irritation at the confinement. As Avery moved and crawled into his lap, he wrapped his arms around her and whispered to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stop.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and rubbed her cheek against his. “It’s okay, I’m not nervous anymore,” she said, smiling softly. “I guess I never really was.”

They smiled at each other for a few more minutes, snuggling and nuzzling and wrapping themselves in each other’s warmth. Eventually their lips locked again, but the aggression and strive for dominance was no longer present, and a lazy nature took over. The quiet settled in the room and was present until it was broken by a slight gurgling noise.

The two broke apart, and Zim smiled. “You hungry?” he quarried, tilting his head to see her face. She nodded, and he slid off the bed, helping her to her feet. “What’re you feeling?”

Avery pondered, running through her usual list of preferred tastes and favored dishes. “How about… Pizza for dinner?” she offered, knowing that he couldn’t refuse.

He smiled to himself and nodded, heading out into the kitchen to pick through his stockpile of frozen pizzas. “I got pepperoni, meat-lovers, chicken and ranch, and bacon. Take your pick,” he said, half submerged into the freezer.

“Holy shit, do you _live_ on pizza?” She shook her head at his reply of ‘Pretty much’, resting her chin in her hands. “Well, I’ve never had a bacon pizza before,” she said thoughtfully.

Zim poked his head out of the freezer, staring at her disapprovingly. “You’re joking.”

“Nope.”

His face fell and his shoulders dropped. “Well,” he continued, pulling the chosen pizza from the stack. “I’m going to have to fix that.” After preheating the oven and prepping the frozen dinner, rearranging the bacon bits to be even, he flipped on the TV to find something to accompany supper.

Avery watched him scroll through the channels, turning her nose up at most of the shows that he offered to tolerate. As she grew bored, he skipped over one that she got particularly excited about. “Wait, no! Go back!” she ordered, scanning the guide for the channel number. “713, that one!”

Zim quirked a brow and obeyed, turning around to look at her oddly. “’Visited’? Really? This sounds like a knock off of ‘Mysterious Mysteries’.”

“Actually, it’s the other way around. This show is legit, ‘Mysterious Mysteries’ did a lot of copy-cat episodes of this show.” When his facial expression didn’t change, she glowered at him. “This is my favorite show, we’re watching it.”

He didn’t argue, instead shaking his head with a laugh. “Whatever,” he breathed. “I’m gonna show you how much of this is bullshit, though.”

“I’d like to see you argue aliens with me. You don’t seem like the type to-“

“To what? Just because I’m the pretty boy doesn’t mean I’m ignorant. You’d be surprised at how much I know.” _Because I’m from a planet thousands of light-years away and have dealt with more alien species than you could fit in the state of Rhode Island._

Avery rolled her eyes, “We’ll see. This one’s about the various species we’ve been visited by, and what signs they left behind. Pretty basic stuff.” She smiled at him, following him with her eyes as he moved back into the kitchen to attend to the pizza.

Once it was set on the stove, he dug through one of the drawers for his pizza cutter, finding it buried in the back. “Basic?” he asked, scoring where he wanted to cut. “There’s nothing basic about aliens visiting Earth, that’s a more complicated topic than you think.” He pulled two plates from the cupboard and piled slices on both, handing one to Avery.

They took their seats on the couch, each sprawling comfortably with pizza in hand. The show was already a few minutes in, and was explaining theories on how religion had covered up many occurrences.

“Now see, I don’t buy that one, I don’t think that ancient visitors were the beginning of religious figures in that sense, they didn’t preach.” Avery commented, her mouth full of cheesy bacon goodness.

Zim swallowed and shook his head. “Well no, they were just so advanced that people revered them as Gods, and didn’t know how to scientifically explain it. That’s where a lot of biblical stories came from.”

Avery nodded, pleased with his determination, and let a few more minutes pass by. “Now _that’s_ legit,” she stated, taking another bite.

“What? That nobody could colonize on Earth and decided to make it a holding prison?” Zim asked, a hint of skepticism in his words.

The girl nodded, shifting on the cushions. “Mhm, ever wonder why Atlantis and Mu destroyed each other? Because they couldn’t be civil towards each other long enough, they were too evolved.”

With an argumentative mumble, Zim retorted, “Yes, the presence of technology hindered the neighborly intentions, but that’s not why they destroyed each other. They had been feuding for thousands of years already, and when they discovered they inhabited the same planet, they started hurling asteroids at each other.”

After a few thoughtful bites of pizza, Avery pondered his reason. “Well, how would you know they’d been feuding already?”

“Same way you even knew Mu existed at all.” He was silent after that, letting another portion of the show go by before speaking up again. “So what about that?”

Avery puffed her cheeks out and pursed her lips, deciding on an answer. “Well, I can buy that Stonehenge was a landing base, and the Nazca lines were landmarks, and that crop circles were sophisticated messages. But I don’t know about the pyramids being ship houses. I think they were used to create microwaves for communication. That’s what the obelisks were for anyways, so it would only make sense.” She nodded, pleased with herself, taking another mouthful of her last slice.

For the rest of the episode, they bickered lightly back and forth, agreeing to stock back up on pizza for the next episode, entitled ‘Bene – Violence’. Avery said he’d enjoy this one more, since it argued the nature of the visiting beings being benevolent or violent, hence the “clever” name.

Halfway through the episode, during the commercials, Zim looked over and smirked. “So what do you think? Friendly or hostile?”

The girl laughed with her mouth closed, nearly chocking on her pizza. “Both, duh. Of course we know some are hostile, because they experiment on us. But there’s been others that have intervened in our actions that might’ve ultimately led to our own destruction. I always felt that it was nice to have a sort of older sibling to look out for us when we needed it.” She smiled to herself, indulging another bite.

Zim relaxed internally, relieved at her lax opinion. _This just seems to get easier and easier…_ Part of him felt that it was too good to be true, so he naturally couldn’t help his next question. “Have you ever wanted to meet one?”

At this Avery shook her head, then stopped, shrugged her shoulders, and hummed as she swallowed. “I don’t know… I guess that would depend on a lot of things. I definitely would never ever want to meet a Gray, they’re little shits. But I don’t know about the others.”

“Would you be scared?” He knew he probably shouldn’t press, but had always been of a curious nature. More than once that had put him in unfavorable situations.

She shook her head. “I don’t _think_ I would, not scared really. But it’s hard for me to say, it’s not like I’m talking to one, so I can’t really make a judgment.”

_Ouch, that hurt._ Zim decided not to ask any more questions, keeping his comments strictly on the subject of bickering. On the one hand, she wasn’t really afraid of benevolent aliens, which was _technically_ what _he_ was. But then again, she even said herself that there was no way for her to know how she would react to being confronted by one.

He sighed, a nagging thought eating away at his subconscious. _So this could still go horribly wrong if I don’t play this right. Great._


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I guess after this, things are gonna go down hill. Maybe. It sucks when you've got one objective and fourteen different ways to get there and you like all of them. Oh well.
> 
> I'm also still posting fanart, the link for my deviantART is on my profile page. Show some love guys~

For the next few nights Zim switched between spending the night in his room or the lab, and sleeping with Avery. Sometimes he wondered whether or not she was bothered by how quickly their “relationship” had progressed, or if she even thought about it. Other times he wondered what to classify their relationship as, not sure if they were friends with benefits or actually dating. Though, he couldn’t deny that he was grateful that she hadn’t thrown around the phrase “I love you” yet, as he was certain he would have no idea how to respond.

It wasn’t that he didn’t love her, because he did, more than he could ever express with words. But to him, saying “I love you” didn’t have much of an effect unless you used it at the right time, so if he didn’t respond right away, what would he tell her? He couldn’t tell her the truth, about how he knew as certain as he was Irken that she was meant for him. That’s not normal, not for humans, and knowing how humans treated others in the relationship sense – abuse, untrustworthiness, playing with emotions – it might have made her feel anxious, or caused her to rethink how she felt about him.

He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on the trivial side of the girl comfortably curled up in his arms. She breathed lightly, her mouth parted slightly and her eyes moving lazily as she dreamed. Zim smiled at her every time she mumbled or made small noises in her sleep, pulling her closer and gently hushing her until the subtle noises quieted.

Tonight was cool, though he still wore no more than his pajama pants, and he would’ve been in his lab polishing his report, but the way Avery’s teeth chattered and the way her skin prickled with goose bumps was enough to sway him to her favor. She had possessively attached herself to him, tucking her head under his chin and draping her legs over his as he curled around her body. She’d been quiet most of the night, only moving to shift closer to his bodily warmth or reposition her stiff arms or neck.

As he laid in bed, brushing the tips of his fingers through her hair, a light pinging noise ran through his antennae. _Shit! She had to call now? Right now? Dammit._ Zim growled silently to himself, being as careful as he possibly could to detach the girl from him. Thankfully she was under deep enough to not be roused, and he was able to grab a shirt and slip from the room unnoticed.

Zim met the call in the lower levels of his base, feeling excruciatingly underdressed. The large screen above his head flashed with the Irken insignia, and he huffed at the computer to answer the call.

“Greetings, my favorite soldier, how have-“ Miyuki paused, taking in the sight of Zim’s state of undress. “Oh dear, were you busy?”

The Irken shook his head, forcing a smile. “Nah, just resting and sacrificing my body heat.” He showed his teeth in the smile, conveying a slightly sarcastic tone.

Tallest Miyuki furrowed her brow as she worked through his statement, her face lighting up when she figured it out. “So things are going well! Oh do tell me how you told her about-“

“I didn’t.”

She scowled at him, partly for interrupting her, mostly because she didn’t like his answer. “What do you mean, you didn’t tell her. You can’t let her get close to you without her knowing what you are, it won’t end well.”

Zim ducked his head shamefully, clenching his fists in defense. “It’ll be easier for her to get to know _me_ first, I don’t want my appearance to sway her judgment.” He kept his eyes averted, not wanting to see the severity in her eyes.

“But being Irken is part of who you are, isn’t that important to you?” She knew she was tugging at his sensitive moral strings, but she also knew that sometimes, he needed to be reminded of how important his heritage was. She often regretted how long he had spent on Earth.

He sighed, stealing a glance at her before quickly looking away again. “It is very important to me, my Tallest. But it isn’t to her, not yet. Humans are exceedingly judgmental on how people look, even when they don’t know them. I wish to avoid this possibility.”

The Tallest hummed in thought as she formulated a response. “As long as you plan on telling her everything at some point, which of course is only going to get harder the longer you wait.”

At this, Zim smiled broadly up at Miyuki. “I actually don’t think so.”

“You don’t?”

“No,” he repeated. “I actually think it’ll get a little easier.” When she merely raised a skeptical  brow in response, he elaborated. “We were watching a show a few nights ago, which broadly encompasses the idea of alien intervention on Earth. She was actually very much of a believer in the existence and evolution of aliens, and while I was doing my report, I did extensive research on the history of alien intervention. So far, I’m impressed at how well she can pick apart the truth from everything else, and she seems to take it very seriously.”

Miyuki listened intently, surprised at what he had to say. “But I thought you said the humans were ignorant to the rest of the universe.”

Zim nodded, but held up a finger for emphasis. “They are, on a whole. But there are a few that are psychologically evolved enough to handle the idea of not being alone. I suspect they are incarnations of the more ancient groups that first visited, and I believe Avery is most likely Lyrian. She certainly has the temperament of one.” The last bit he mumbled under breath, folding his hands behind his back in a military fashion.

The Tallest hummed quietly, again surprised at his information. “I suppose those are extenuating circumstances, and your hypothesis seems practical. Very well,” she said definitively. “Just be sure to let her know in such a way she will be understanding.” He nodded, and she continued, changing the subject. “Now, for the reason I called. I would like your report.”

The Irken’s breath caught in his throat, and he swallowed hard. “I uh – actually only have a rough draft – I didn’t – “

She waved a hand to dismiss his excuses. “Oh please, I don’t need a polished draft for this particular subject, I’m mostly looking for general ideas.”

With a sigh of relief, he happily sent her the rather large file that was his report, smiling at her surprise. “I hope I didn’t overdo it.”

“No no, this will be _quite_ sufficient.” She skimmed through the material with a keen eye, her expression growing dark as she passed over the mention of one particular name over and over again. “I don’t like this. I don’t like this at all.”

Zim’s face fell, and for a moment he thought he had done something insufficient in his report. “I don’t understand,” he said, avertedly inquiring about what had her so troubled.

She rubbed her nimble fingers in circles over her temples, her long, spiraling antennae shifting with agitation. “I did not want a confrontation with… _them._ ” She could see in Zim’s eyes that he knew exactly who and what she was referring to. “How long have they been on the planet?”

“I read through countless articles, and it varies. I wouldn’t say any more than a couple thousand years.” An unfamiliar knotted feeling arose in his gut, and his muscles tensed visibly.

The Tallest shook her head. “There’s no way I can protect your planet if they’re still present.”

Zim nodded solemnly, relaxing his arms slightly. “I’ve read rumors of other humans nearby, that keep an eye on Earth. Maybe they can be of assistance?” He knew the offer was small, but concerning the newest problem every little bit would help.

Miyuki groaned irritably. “ _They_ are the whole reason I’m worried for our own sake. And I know they won’t go quietly.” The pondered for a moment, lacing her fingers together as she stared at nothing. “I want your next report to cover their interventions, specifically their business with the governments of Earth. I want to know who knows about them and what amount of control they still have on the situation.”

“Yes ma’am,” Zim saluted, his face stern and his stance rigid. When the transmission cut he let out a silent yawn, slumping over with exhaustion he didn’t know had overcome him. On the way back to the house level he nearly stumbled over himself more than a few times. It could have been partially due to the fact that they had a newer, more tiresome problem on their hands. _I can’t believe I didn’t notice them before, I’ve been here for nearly seven years… But, then again, they’ve never bothered me either, so hopefully they haven’t found me yet._

When he trudged back into the bedroom, Avery was sitting upright with the thick comforter clutched around her shoulders. She peered at him through half-lidded eyes, seemingly put off by his absence. Avery attempted to demand where he had been, but instead groaned through her dry throat.

Zim crawled onto the bed and pulled her back down, mumbling in response. He’d never fallen fully asleep so fast before, but everything felt fuzzy and he just wanted to curl up with her and never wake up again.

Then he felt sick. Not in the way of an upset stomach, but almost as if his life was literally being drained from his veins. The fogginess in his mind made it difficult for him to come to the conclusion as to why he was feeling this way.

Against his better judgment to move around in his condition, he forced himself out of bed, resisting the odd urge to heave over the edge. He heard vaguely that Avery had protested his leaving, but stumbled unevenly into the bathroom, feeling around on the wall for the light switch. The light was blaring and caused spots to form in his vision, and he didn’t remember how or when he ended up on the floor, just that his knees hurt.

His throat burned and the fiber of his being ached all over. There was a buzzing in his antennae that dulled the startled cries of Avery as she stumbled out of the bed after him. He paid her no heed, shaking his head clear enough to rummage through the cabinet next to him. _Please be in here… please…_ The air he breathed in became thin and it wasn’t enough, but he tried desperately not to cough, as it stung his throat.

Avery dropped in front of him, her eyes wide with worry as she grabbed his shoulders. She couldn’t form words to get his attention, and when he realized she was gripping onto him, he shook his head and pushed her away.

Moments later he found and removed a box from the back of the cabinet, small and airtight. He fumbled around to get it open and pick through to find the syringe. He forced himself to stop shaking, taking a deep breath to steady himself.  The tremors that wracked through his body subsided just enough for him to fill the syringe with the appropriate medicine, but afterwards he couldn’t calm himself.

“Zim you’re scaring me, what’s wrong…” Avery was wiping away the tears with the palms of her hands, shaking both from the cold and the slight fear at him being so vulnerable.

He coughed, wincing at the pain in his throat. “You… have to…” It took him a moment to get his point across, telling her that his hands shook too much for him to administer the drug himself.

She shook her head, the tears doubling down her cheeks. “No… no I can’t…” Her voice cracked through the whisper she was using, choking when she paused.

He looked at her sternly, shakily taking one of her hands in his, peeling open her fingers to place the syringe in her palm. “You… have to.” He held his empty hands out to show her how badly he was shaking, slightly in a pleading manner.

Avery looked at the syringe, filled nearly to the top with a transparent pink liquid, then back up into his bloodshot eyes. It scared her, the idea of administering an unknown drug in such a way she’s never practiced. Taking care of herself was different, as she knew her limitations and what hurt where. But she didn’t know him quite so intimately, and there was no way for her to know if she was hurting him or not.

“I… trust you…” he breathed, holding his forearm out to her as he forced himself to keep his eyes open.

At this the girl tensed, closing her fingers around the glass as she forced the tears to stop. On the one hand, she had no idea what was wrong with him or what she giving him, which put her very much on edge. But on the other hand, he looked far beyond sick, and seemed to get worse by the passing second, which came literally out of nowhere. It hurt, at first, when she forced herself to internally agree to do it for him, but the more the whites of his eyes pinkened and the greener his skin seemed to get, the more determined she became.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought that the surface of his being grew to become more transparent, in a way that seemed quite unnatural. It was as if there was something else underneath, but underneath what exactly, she wasn’t sure. As for what he was turning into, she only knew it frightened her thinking it put him in so much distress.

The syringe plunged into his skin, sliding into the prominent vein. He winced, but didn’t jerk, straining desperately to keep still. Avery drained the liquid into him, holding his arm with one hand and the instrument awkwardly in the other. When it was empty, she withdrew it quickly, letting it clatter to the floor as she sat back and covered her face in her hands.

She curled in on herself, listening silently as he cleaned himself up and set the glass syringe in the sink. He shuffled out of the bathroom, dug around in the closet, was silent for a moment, and then came back to pick her up off the floor, flicking the light off as he left. She continued to hide her face, even after he set her gently back onto the bed and sat with his arms wrapped around her.

“Hey, I’m okay,” he whispered, gently removing her hands to hold them in his own. When she didn’t look up him he continued. “I’m sorry if I scared y-“

“Sorry!?” her head shot up and she glowered at him, yanking her hands free and putting space between them. “I thought you were _dying_!”

Zim slunk back defensively, shifting his eyes as he thought about what to say. He hated lying to her, he hated the way it made him feel. So far the only thing he’d truly lied about was being human, but now he had to tell her that he wasn’t dying, when that was exactly what was happening. “No, of course not,” It burned on his tongue and churned his spooch, but he kept a straight face.

She punched him in the arm, hard enough to leave a bruise for the day after, but recoiled and started to cry quietly again. “You have to tell me what’s going on,” she said, staring almost hatefully at her hands as they quavered despite her concentration on calming her nerves. Her hands clenched hard enough to turn her knuckles white, and she closed her eyes as tight as she could.

It made him nervous, but pulled her into his lap and peppered kisses across her nose and a light on her lips. “I swear I’ll tell you… but I can’t… not yet.”

For a moment she was angry with him, angry that he’d dismiss it to come back to later. She wanted an answer so bad, it made her head swim her heart hurt, exhausting her to the point of falling limp against his chest and whine.

He held her tight for a moment longer before guiding her onto her back. She was fast asleep by the time her head rested against the pillow, and laid on his side next her to her, one hand propping his head up so he could watch her. For every tear that continued to fall from her eyes, even after sleep, he grew more and more disappointed in himself.

What was he doing? He didn’t know how she felt about him, not _really_ , and yet he was doing everything in his power to win her over. Humans were unreliable, they couldn’t be trusted, they were so young and naïve evolutionarily speaking. So what was it? What did he see in that moment of realization, when he knew within the depths of his very existence that she was _the one_.

It frustrated him to have seen so clearly into her soul and yet still not know what made them click. And beyond that, there was no guarantee that just because he would pledge his eternal loyalty to her, that she would do the same. It wasn’t a part of human nature, so then what the hell could it have been that he saw?

The rest of the night was cold and unforgiving as he shivered internally, wracking through mind to try and come to some sort of conclusion. Every few minutes he had to remind himself that he was able to sleep in since it’d be Saturday, as the anxiety of a sleepless night ate away at his reserve of energy.

Eventually he grew weary of his thoughts, and pointedly decided to roll over and actually sleep. As he turned in the direction of the girl in bed with him, having every intention of cuddling, he found that she had her back to him and was nearly on the other edge of the bed. He scowled for a second before deciding she was probably just freaked out and probably traumatized. He wrapped his arms around his shoulders and pulling his knees close for warmth. He wasn’t going to bother gently wrestling the comforter away from her, so he tightened his muscles and bit the bullet, ignoring the cold.

He never fell asleep, and was tormented by his stray thoughts until the migraine that developed achingly dulled them down enough for him to rest semi-peacefully. Through the pounding in his head the throbbing in his heart he didn’t notice when the sun came up, or when Avery slipped from the bed and draped the comforter over his shivering body.

Any other day he would’ve cursed himself for rolling out of bed later than ten, but even as the clock read half past eleven, the only thing he could think of was how awful he felt all over. It’d been a long time since he’d missed a day for his bi-monthly shot, which was the only thing keeping him alive since he refused to wear his PAK. The only time he really minded the drug when he forgot about it, which set him on pins and needles while he outwardly acted like he wanted to eat most people’s faces off.

As he sprawled face down on the couch, he recounted the first time he forgot his injection. He showed up with his eyes bloodshot, a scowl plastered on his face, and growled at anyone who got too close. It had been a Tuesday and he would be damned before he canceled practice just because he didn’t feel well. After the first four announcements of “Hey yo! Zim’s on his man period!” he promptly left, his crew giggling behind his back.

“Hey.”

Zim turned his head just enough so see Avery’s red plaid fleece pants, groaning pitifully as he hid his face from the light. He could feel her sway slightly on her feet before she moved, almost as if she was going to leave, but she didn’t.

“Get up. We need to talk. _Now_.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a little longer than usual, but that's college... or so I've been told. Probably why fanart for this is also slow moving, but no one checks that anyways.

They sat facing each other on the opposite ends of the couch, Avery glaring at Zim viciously while he rubbed his temples to ward off the light headache. He supposed he should’ve known it was coming, it was a conversation that was inevitable since he knew they’d have to have it before the “oh hey I’m an alien” one. However, in his current condition was not how he had envisioned the scenario panning out.

“Alright,” he breathed, looking tiredly up at her from his bowed head. “But you won’t like this conversation.”

She glowered harder, folding her arms against her chest tightly and aggressively. “I better get some answers.”

“Well that’s all going to depend on what kind of questions you ask.” He would admit later that he definitely didn’t normally act quite so snobbish, but he was also a little put off at the fact that he felt and looked like shit and she wasn’t taking his wellness into consideration.

Avery blinked slowly, conveying that she was not impressed by his attitude. “I want to know what the hell happened to you last night.”

“I got sick.” He spat, trying to make it sound as if that were the obvious answer.

The girl shook her head, saying, “Oh no, that’s not good enough.”

Zim leaned back fully, never taking his eyes off her. “Well that’s all you’re going to get.” He folded his arms purposefully to mock her stature, pursing his lips.

“I thought you were going to _die_! Do you have any idea how fucking terrified I was?” She all but screamed, nearly concerned that she might have alerted the neighbors.

He closed his eyes for a moment, internally beating down his boiling anger. “I don’t want this to get out of hand, but there’s nothing else I can tell you. I know you got scared, so was I. But when I forget my injection, I get sick. End of story.”

Her hands started shaking slightly, and she gritted her teeth. “Sick? _Sick_!? That was not sick! What hell could you possibly have that would do that to you!”

“I. Can’t. Tell you.” He replied, emphasizing every word in every way he could. He knew it was going to get worse before it got better, but keeping his anger suppressed was beginning to err on the difficult side.

Avery wasn’t easy to piss off, but she could almost feel the steam pouring out of her ears. “Are you kidding me! I saved your god damn life and you can’t even tell me what the hell is wrong with you!” She buried her face in her hands, digging her fingers into her scalp as she glared at nothing. Once she took a deep breath, she looked back up at him, head still hung low. “What could possibly be so bad that you can’t tell me? Why are you so afraid?”

At this Zim scowled, hating how perfectly her word choice was. “I’m not afraid, I just –“

“Don’t you lie to me, I know what fear looks like!” she hissed, balling her hands into fists. She could feel sweat trickling down her back and shoulders, already growing weary from her constant yelling.

Zim growled quietly, a small part of his mind piping up about how awful he’d feel later about threatening her in such a manner. “And why the hell do you need to know so damn bad about what’s wrong with me.”

Honestly, Avery didn’t have much of an answer. Of course she wanted to know because she was concerned that there might be something she could do that he wasn’t telling her. But he wouldn’t take that answer, it wasn’t good enough. “Because I love you, because I _live with you_. There’s no way you can keep it a secret forever.”

He sighed, partially satisfied with her statement. “I don’t plan on keeping it secret forever, I don’t believe in lying to you like that.”

She tilted her head just slightly, narrowing her eyes a little farther. “What is that supposed to mean? What are you lying about?”

“I’m not who or what you think I am. I’m not as perfect as everyone makes me out to be, I make them see me how I _want_ them to see me. I don’t trust people for a reason, why do you think I don’t have any real friends? The only friend I ever had left me! And everyone else laughed at me or couldn’t understand.” He paused, breathing shallowly as he watched Avery’s expression.

She was quiet for a moment, slowly beginning to sort of understand where he was coming from, but she still wasn’t satisfied. “You must think I’m different, though.”

Zim couldn’t help but smile, even though he didn’t want to. “You’re the only one I know who could understand, and not hate me for what I really am. But I have to make sure that you’ll still love me after I decide to tell you.” She opened her mouth to interject, but he held up a hand. “As much as I want to believe you, I have to know for myself. So far, your reactions to very specific things are keeping me hopeful, but it’ll be a while yet.”

Avery glared again, dropping her arms in her lap. “You’re _testing_ me?”

“In a way, yes. But I promise that once you know, you’ll understand why I had to.” He looked at her sternly, setting his jaw to let her know that he was done with the conversation.

It took her a minute to compose herself, fisting the short hairs on the side of her head until the slight prickling pain allowed her to think of nothing else. She breathed deeply, keeping her eyes closed as she thought. Of course she was angry, that she had moved in with a boy she knew nearly nothing about, since he insisted on keeping most everything a secret. Then again, she was sure that if she thought about it, she could probably come up with some secrets of her own. Everyone had secrets, and maybe some were more extreme than others. But he loved her, didn’t he? So then, so what if he had a secret? He even said so himself that he’d tell her when he was ready, so why was she having such a hard time coping with that?

“Okay,” she said finally, leaning back against the arm of the couch with her hands still in her lap. “I won’t ask about it anymore. But you have to promise that you’ll tell me what it is, eventually.” She peered up at his face, a pang of shame twisting her heart at the sight of him.

He smiled faintly, meeting her gaze. “I swear.”

Something about his tone somehow reassured her that he meant it, although that idea partially irritated her all over again.

“Is there something else?” the boy asked, rubbing the soreness and sleeplessness from his eyes.

Avery looked farther downwards as she thought. “I guess.” When he hummed loud enough for her to hear, she went on. “Part of me is still eating away at the thought of how comfortable I am here. I feel like I shouldn’t be, like I don’t belong here, even though I hardly know you at all, but that doesn’t bother me. At least, not when I don’t think about it.”

Zim sighed and stood up, pulling down the hem of his black shirt. “Sorry, but I can’t really help you with that one.” He didn’t look at Avery as he passed by her to move into the kitchen, suddenly famished.

The girl scrunched up her nose in thought, listening to noises of the other as he bustled around in the kitchen. She heard the light clatter of pots, pans, and other things in the cupboards as he rummaged around. He must’ve opened the fridge at least four times, she heard the beeping from the oven, and quickly decided that he was making breakfast.

“What’s your favorite color?” She asked, hating the silence as it drew out.

The house grew quieter as Zim stopped moving about. “Why?” His tone was fairly dry, flecked with an expression of childlike curiosity.

Avery didn’t look at him, but faintly heard the shuffle of his feet and the way he pushed back a laugh. “Well, I don’t know anything about you, and I figured that’s where most people start. Then again, I only have one friend – which was by accident – so what do I know.”

For a moment, Zim thought maybe it was best that he not answer, but decided that it was another opportunity for him to gain some very specific information. “Pink.”

Her red hair whipped around with her head as she stared at him. Her face scrunched as she belittled him for his answer. “Ew, Why?”

As Zim slid a tray into the oven he smiled, already formulating questions of his own to ask her. “I don’t know, it’s a pleasing color if it’s not… overbearing.” He stood back up and sat on the counter closest to her, smiling more fully. “And my favorite animals are space rabbits.”

Avery’s face dropped into a scowl. “There’s no such thing as a space rabbit.”

“How do you know?” he shot back, eyebrows raised.

She rolled her eyes. “Alright fine, your turn.” She watched him return to his previous spot on the couch.

Zim mulled over his question, wanting to keep it generic, but he wanted an answer he could use. “What’s your favorite kind of cookie?”

“Ooh, good one.” She thought for a moment, peering up at the ceiling. “I guess I would have to say… peanut butter chocolate chip.”

The other nodded in appreciation, waiting for her next question, surprised when she came off with ‘favorite type of video game’. “Oh that’s a little unfair. But RPG only because I like extensive and adaptive gameplay.”

Their little game went on for a little while, only pausing for Zim to pull the muffins from the oven. Then they continued through breakfast, trivial questions becoming slightly more in-depth with each turn. After nearly an hour, they had each come up with a surprising amount of details about the other.

Zim was an avid baker and always started recipes from scratch, he had had a small amount of military training and originally used dancing to keep in shape, his favorite season was fall, he hated classical music, he held chick flicks with as much regard as action movies, he was slightly squeamish, and his favorite female body type was short and just a little round.

Avery hated most vegetables, excluding carrots, peas, and sweet corn, her favorite holiday was Halloween because she loved dressing extravagantly, she considered herself a grammar Nazi, her favorite female celebrity was Ellen DeGeneres – something to which Zim nodded approvingly – , she believed that the educational system was all wrong, she started dancing to prove to her adoptive mother that you didn’t have to be flexible to dance – as she was not – , and she was deathly afraid of trains.

“Trains? Why trains?” Zim asked, truly puzzled by her phobia.

The girl bounced her shoulders in response, quirking her lips to the side. “I’m not sure really, I’ve been afraid of them my whole life. Everyone always told me it was because they were just loud, but I never believe that.”

Zim nodded, glancing down at his hands for a moment. “So, do you feel better, now that you know I have an absurd fear of bees?” He laughed, smiling when she laughed with him.

“Isn’t that called apiphobia?” Avery giggled, looking upwards into his lavender eyes, a light fluttering settling in her stomach. “You know…” she paused, twiddling her fingers. “I don’t like fighting with you.”

It might’ve seemed normal to anyone else, as people don’t usually _enjoy_ arguing with others. But for most of Avery’s life, that was how she had learned to vent her frustration and negativity, especially when her adoptive mother first showed signs of abuse. Later on she knew yelling at people and outwardly displaying her bad attitude wasn’t such a good idea, but she had never had an incentive to change that.

They were both silent for a while, before she continued. “I guess now I’ll have to find some other way get all my anger out when you piss me off.” She smiled again, hoping he’d take in good humor as she meant for it to be in most of the sense.

He leaned over, purring quietly into her ear before placing a kiss on her cheek. “Don’t worry, I’ll do my best to keep on your good side.”

Avery was surprised that the two of them went the whole weekend without arguing further, granted that the only things they did were play competitive video games – with light skirmishes – and help each other with homework, which was mostly one sided.

Zim went to work on a schedule for Tallest Miyuki to use, so that when she called it would only be in the middle of the night for him on Earth. He stressed the fact that having a human in his house unfortunately took a certain amount of priority over their conversations, and he was thankful that she was understanding. However, she also countered with the fact that the sooner he told her – once he was ready, of course – the better off he’d be, and that putting such a thing off ‘til another day would only be detrimental to his and the human girl’s relationship.

“I hope you know exactly what it is that you’re doing,” she said, her liquid blue eyes lingering on his facial expressions. “She _is_ human, after all, and according to you there’s no real way to tell how they’ll react to certain things.”

The exiled Irken bowed his head, clenching his fists behind his back. “I understand, my Tallest, and I understand the magnitude of the consequences my actions may have. But you must know this is my circumstance and mine alone.” He didn’t look back up at her, instead he kept his eyes trained just below the monitor.

The Tallest smiled to herself at his slight ignorance. “I wouldn’t be so sure.” Her smile widened when he turned his gaze upwards, confused by her meaning. “If things go as planned, I get to keep you as one of my highest officials. If not, I very well may lose you.”

Zim blushed, but not from embarrassment, exactly. It was shame, even though he knew it was shame he could do nothing about. It was true though, if his “plan” didn’t work there was an extremely high chance that he wouldn’t live through it. But she knew that.

“You need not to feel shameful, soldier. I just need to know that _that_ particular possibility is always in the forefront of your mind. You are valuable to me, and you need to be valuable to yourself as well.” She blinked her eyes slowly, watching the flash of appreciation flit across his face.

“I… welcome your kind words, my Tallest.” He bowed as the transmission was cut, thankful that she had not assigned him another report. Maybe now that he had one less thing to worry about, Avery could become more of a priority.

He dawdled around a little before he went back to the house floor, stopping in one of his smaller lab rooms to mosey around. It was a room that was in a constant state of disarray, and he argued to himself that even though it wasn’t clean, he knew exactly where everything was. Most of the knick knacks lying around were just little toying projects that he used to use to keep himself busy. Admittedly, he was a little disappointed that he didn’t get to spend as much time in his toying lab as he used to. However, he did get to spend his extra time with the girl who was probably impatiently tossing under the covers until he returned.

As he ascended the lift and opened the hidden door in the kitchen, his stomach dropped and his mouth went dry.

“Whe… ‘ve y-… been?” Avery stood groggily in the middle of the kitchen, rubbing her eyes with the sleeves of her oversized sweater shirt. Her eyes were barely open and her voice was soft and small, she nearly stumbled over nothing a few times as she swayed just slightly.

Zim fumbled with the necklace under his shirt, partially relived that it was activated and she at least hadn’t seen him without it. He walked steadily and slowly over to her, whispering to her in an attempt to keep himself from startling her awake. “Hey, you should be in bed, come on,” he chided, putting his hands on her shoulders to turn her around and lead her back into the bedroom.

He tucked her back under the covers, confident that even if she had coherently seen something he’d easily be able to pass it off as a dream. He pulled off his black uniform undershirt, shivering as the cold air licked at his skin, but thankful to have the high and tight neck collar off from around his throat. When he leaned into the closet to toss the shirt he pulled out a clean pair of loose pants, slipping semi-gracefully out of his current pair to toss those as well. As his internal body temperature adjusted to the bedroom’s temperature, he decided against pants, repeatedly telling himself that he should be totally comfortable sleeping with her in just his boxers.

He slid under the comforter as carefully as he could, noting that she was probably still only half asleep. Avery mumbled and wiggled closer to him, forcing one arm under his back while running her other hand along the skin of his chest and stomach before she found a resting place around his waist. He shuddered and his skin prickled at her touch, a stupid grin forcing itself over his lips.

_Soon,_ he thought to himself. _Then you won’t have to hide anymore._


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically this could be a sort of filler chapter, since nothing plot wise happens. However, it does give me an excuse to draw fanart (which will be uploaded to my deviantART account) and it's nice to see characters behaving in normal circumstances.

Midterm week for the two of them was hectic and isolated, each keeping more or less to themselves during their time at home. Zim had at least one midterm a day, which caused him to be a recluse, after Avery had told him countless times that she understood and wasn’t going to get upset over his “absence”. She, on the other hand, had all of her finals at the end of the week, which allowed her to study multiple courses a day. However, Tuesday night she requested to go home with Jade so that they could study together, much to Zim’s relief at the chance of an empty house.

Neither one of them had very much test anxiety, Zim less so than Avery. But arguably, an entire week worth of studying material that never hardly appeared on the exams anyways, was taxing in and of itself. So by the end of the school day on Friday, they couldn’t wait to go home and do _nothing_.

“Could you fucking believe that? I studied for three hours on conjugation and every single verb tense there was and _all of the vocabulary_.” Avery slammed the car door and marched into the house, throwing her backpack roughly by the front door.

Zim smiled as she flailed about, ranting over their French exam. “Yeah, and all we had to do was translate one itty bitty paragraph,” he said, cringing playfully as she hissed at him. “Hey now, she even told us it would be easier than we thought.”

Avery flopped backwards onto the couch, holding her arms out and wiggling them to get his attention. When he obliged and crawled carefully on top of her – flopping down and causing her to wheeze – she smiled and snuggled closer, wrapping herself comfortably around him.

He hummed and buried his face in her hair, noting that she smelled faintly of the ocean. His arms wound around her as he got comfortable, the entire week’s exhaustion suddenly manifesting. “I think I’m just gonna lay here all weekend.”

The girl groaned and writhed under him, scowling. “You can’t, I have to get up early tomorrow.”

At this, Zim huffed irritably. “What the hell for?”

“Mrs. Gretchen booked us a performance at the local Renaissance Faire, and our first number starts at noon, so she wants us there by eleven, which means I have to be up by nine.” She relaxed again and absently slid her hands under his shirt to rest on his back.

Anything he might’ve complained about left his conscious thought process, the tingling feeling of her cold hands tracing circles on the small of his back sending light shivers up his spine to his shoulders.  He sighed quietly into her hair, smiling as she drew circles and odd shapes with the tips of her fingers. Though, after a moment, he started to wonder if she noticed that she hadn’t otherwise moved. “Are you alright?”

Avery scowled slightly to herself, her thought process slowing down enough for her to mumble out what she was thinking. “Usually people make me uncomfortable, and I either shy or violently slap away any kind of physical contact. I haven’t yet figure out why you’re different…”

_Fuckin’ surprising too, I’m getting lazy about hiding it._ “Well, I’ll make sure not to change anything then, for fear of losing cuddling privileges,” he said, the smile stretching farther along his lips.

They let the cuddles drag on for a few minutes before their lips found each other’s, and the heat began to rise from the pores of their skin. Normally Zim wouldn’t let a make-out session get quite so… _sexual_. But the week had been long, and the amount of energy it took to keep himself unaroused seemed pointless to try and muster.

Neither had ever actually been intimate with someone before, so at first the touches were a little awkward, the positions uncomfortable, and testing of actions painfully slow. But soon they’d found a rhythm that was both comfortable and allowed both to use their hands. Avery’s breathing deepened quickly, and she made herself roll her hips with his, letting him know that she was still okay. He ground his hips into hers feverishly, their kisses sloppy and slightly uncoordinated.

Zim’s hands pulled her closer as he trailed his tongue along her jaw line and rested on her neck, allowing himself to nibble at her flesh carefully. He loved the feeling of her hands on his bare chest, contemplating removing his shirt altogether. In fact, he was halfway to deciding on the affirmative, when he felt her hands dip under the hem of his pants.

_Shit!_ He panicked, pulling away from her and snatching at her wrist to pull her hand free. He grunted and breathed exhaustedly, his cheeks flushing deeply. It took a second before the butterflies left his gut, and he opened his eyes to look at the other. “I’m sorry,” he exhaled, letting go of her hand.

She tilted her head questioningly, half worried she’d crossed a boundary, half disappointed that she’d been taken out of her bold state. “What’s wrong? Too soon?” Her cheeks began to match his, and she bit her lip in a way that made Zim shudder.

He shook his head lightly, a faint smile trying to manifest itself. “No… it’s just that…” _Damn, how do I explain this? I didn’t even consider_ this _part…_ He sat up and pulled her with him, situating them until they were both sitting, each looking at the other and enormously embarrassed.

Avery curled slightly in on herself as she watched him try and come up with an acceptable explanation. “Look, I wasn’t really looking to… you know… go _that_ far… if that’s what you’re worried about.”

At this Zim couldn’t help but laugh, slightly and to himself, but laugh all the same. He thought it very strange and sometimes amusing at how humans treated sex, and his opinions went in a few directions. He was absolutely disgusted and appalled at how they had turned it into a multi-billion dollar industry, entirely defeating the half the purpose of the act to begin with. On the other hand, he thought it was quite sweet at how some humans still got defensive or embarrassed over the idea, as if they actually knew how important it was.

He shook his head, smiling. “No no, that’s not it… It’s just… Do you remember that thing I told you about? The secrets that I have?” When other gave a nod, he mimicked her action and continued. “Well… as much as I’d like for us to, _that_ can’t happen until you know everything else. It’ll give it away.”

She blinked slowly in thought, running through her mind a few different situations as to where that would make sense. Somehow she had settled on the possibility that maybe he was actually a transsexual that had gone through surgery but still didn’t look the desired gender. _Yeah that would explain a lot…_ “Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t judge or discriminate against gender or sexual identity, so whatever’s going on, I’ll like you no matter what,” she offered, smiling encouragingly.

“I’m sorry, what? What the hell are you talking about?” Zim furrowed his brow in confusion, slinking ever so slightly away at the enormous amount of implications.

“What? I just thought that maybe you were… you know, someone with identity issues or something. I mean, not like I’m judging! I’m not, it’s totally normal, and I guess I don’t mind being with a girl, so-“ She was silenced abruptly by Zim’s horrified expression.

He was speechless for a moment, before he was able to explain her false assumption. “Oh no, no no no. I promise that I am 100% born dude, nothing feminine about me other than a few opinions.” He was silent again, baffled at how she could’ve gotten so such a conclusion. “Anyway, there are more than a few reasons why sex is not an option, but I promise that when I tell you what’s up, I will explain all of the little details, okay?”

Avery was once again thrust into the dark on the situation, but nodded decidedly, knowing he was telling her the truth.

For the rest of the evening, Avery practiced half heartedly for her performance the next morning, more than grateful for Zim’s cooking when dinner came. She showered before bed, loving the fresh feeling she had as she climbed under the covers, fully clean and radiating with the scent of the ocean.

Zim spent the night in his lab, plowing through the meat of his current report, a sinking feeling in his spooch threatening to make him hurl the longer he did his research. He hated this new piece of information, hated how he hadn’t noticed before, hated how it fucked up his chances of being redeemed, and hated how it was just an extra, unwanted problem. But other than what his Tallest had told him, there wasn’t much else he could do other than keep his eyes open and antennae alert.

He worked through the night and into morning, the lack of ‘sleep’ not really deterring his state of vigilance as he was used to sleepless nights. Avery was up bright and early at the hour she had set, and he lovingly made her breakfast, helped her wash up, get dressed, and gave her a confidence boost consisting of compliments, blushing smiles, and more than a few kisses. When he sent her to the school to be picked up, he waved her off until he couldn’t see her, then disappeared back inside his base.

Today he had planned on tidying up his bedroom on the house level, knowing that his neglectful nature and lack of time spent in the room had most likely turned it on the messy side. He was right, and by the looks of things it’d be a chore. But there was nothing that hot chocolate and a batch of cookies couldn’t fix, and he was hopeful to be done before she got back.

As he tackled the monstrous pile of junk in his closet, he happened to come across and old outfit he hadn’t worn in a long time. He was surprised that he still had it, and that it looked just as clean and nice as the last time he wore it.

Well, so much for chores.

 

* * *

 

“Alright girls, you all look ready to go and you’ve got two minutes till show time,” Mrs. Gretchen smiled and huddled her team of Irish dancers together for one last pep talk before shooing them onto the rickety wooden stage set under the trees.

The Faire was set into the woods of the local park, the tall trees and clear ground offering a more than suitable location for such festivities. It was typical, packed with vendors of leather works, armor, medieval jewelry and clothing, weapons, artwork, and other things. Food stands were everywhere, serving bread bowl soup, turkey legs, Swedish sausages, beers of all kinds, and everything was wrapped up in a bad pun to boot. The air was dusty, the smell of sweat soaked leather hung in the air from those who dressed up, and the mood was carefree and joyous.

Avery led her group onto the stage, smiling at the people sitting on the uncomfortable wooden benches who were waiting in anticipation. A cloth draped over their radio and vaguely distorted the sound, but they began and endured through their various routines, both soft and hard shoe performed by all dancers.

The smile on Avery’s face broadened when the audience clapped along, whooping and calling words of praise and adoration. This was why she danced, not because she loved the attention, but because it made people smile. In the back row she spotted a young girl, no older than eight, hop along in attempted mimicry of their dance style, nodding giddily when she caught the girl’s attention. It felt good to dance and be good at what she did, but inspiring others to delve into the Irish culture was her most favorite thing.

The applause doubled in decibels as they finished and bowed, the girls quickly scurrying off stage for a much needed drink of water. Once they met back up with Mrs. Gretchen, who congratulated them on a job well done, she gave them the rest of the day to do as they please unless they had a ride home.

Just as Avery was about to pull her phone out to call Zim for said ride, she was tapped on the shoulder and met with his smiling face.

“Wow, you guys perform for others a hell of a lot better than you do for us!”

The girl’s mouth dropped open at the sight of him, but not because he had shown up unexpectedly, oh no.

Zim was dressed in light but baggy cream colored cotton pants, bright orange tabi boots wrapped and laced over his pants up to his knees, and a scarf, patterned in bright oranges and reds with sewn on coins, hung from his prominent hip bones.

“Oh my god, are you covered in glitter?” Avery looked closer and tilted her head, watching as the light bounced off of the red flecks that adorned his bare torso. “Holy shit.”

He smiled and hurriedly waved over his crew while she wasn’t paying attention, stealing a glance at her as she continued to stare and gawk at the fact that not only was he present, but also half naked.

When she looked up again, she reared back in surprise. “Jesus Christ! Why are you all here! And why are you all dressed like belly dancers?”

They laughed and chortled at her expression, their shoulders bouncing as they shared in her confusion. The one that confronted her before, dark skin and hair complemented with bright blue and silver cloth, stood beside Zim and rested his elbow on the other’s shoulder. “Maybe we _are_ belly dancers,” he suggested, smirking playfully.

Avery’s face fell to one of complete seriousness. “I swear to god, if you can I’ll have a heart attack.”

The two boys exchanged a smile and rejoined the rest of their crew, whispering amongst each other in a huddle. Once, Zim turned his head slightly, smirking devilishly at Avery just to make her puff her cheeks out in irritation. After they’d decided on their routine, they backed up in an open space and shuffled into a formation. Avery folded her arms and popped one hip to the side, stretching her arches as she scowled.

The boys behind Zim and the other beside him began clapping and snapping their fingers, using their bodies to make a sort of acapella rhythm. Before the two boys even took a step, a small crowd had begun to form around them, and Avery made sure to keep up front.

It didn’t take long before they had quite the crowd gathered around, but it wasn’t very surprising. Avery had never seen a guy move their hips the way she’d seen girls do, and Zim was damn good at it. A part of her brain told her that she really shouldn’t be surprised, but the rest of it couldn’t figure out why.

The way he swayed his hips from side to side, popped them in rapid succession, rolled his stomach, and rippled the muscles of his abs made her clench her legs together. The girls cheered and whistled at them, making Avery grind her teeth in agitation, but she kept her gaze solely on him.

After a minute of quite the attractive mix of hip hop and belly dance moves, the other dancers backed up a little, creating a semi-circle behind him. Zim stepped forward, his hips dropping, flicking, and shimmying with the claps of the others as he made his way to Avery.

She blushed furiously as he stepped in close, his hands grasping for hers as he breathed heavily and widened his grin. He whispered for her to follow, but even as she shook her head rapidly, he was pulling her backward into the open space, his hips never slowing their twists and flicks.

“Just follow my lead,” he said quietly, keeping her hands loosely in his as he guided her in circles, through turns, and around his body. The crowd continued to cheer, even the girls that were looking on in jealousy, and the others joined in again, but kept in a circle around them and stayed at the edge of the crowd.

Avery wasn’t really aware of what she was doing, but she was fairly certain she was making them both look bad. He was trying desperately to convey his actions so they she’d be able to follow, but she was always almost a split second too late, so she couldn’t image how sloppy she looked. Then she heard his voice in her ear, and tensed up, but forced herself to keep moving.

“Hold tight, I’m going to dip you.”

She was entirely sure they were both fucked at that point, because either she was going to fall and drag him down with her, or break something trying to make it look half decent. But the funny part was, she didn’t even remember the whole thing happening. One moment she was on her feet, the next her left leg was hooked around his, her right thrown in the air following the line of his neck and resting on his shoulder, and her back bent low to the ground while his hands held her tightly.

The crowd yelled at the overly dramatic ending pose, clapping and yelling, with a few zaghareets thrown in with enthusiasm. When Zim pulled the girl to her feet, surveying the impressive amount of people, he smiled bashfully and weaseled him and his crew out of the mob of onlookers before they started asking questions, or god forbid got flagged down by one of the staff members to be offered a job.

When they were clear, Avery pulled her arm free and glared at the lot of them with a distant look of disbelief. “Are you fucking kidding me? _Why_ do you all know how to belly dance?”

They giggled again before Zim offered an explanation. “Well, way back when we had an actual teacher and it wasn’t just me, we did a workshop once with a guy from Turkey. He taught us how to belly dance, and admittedly I’ll never be that good, but the point was to help us learn isolations. He said that learning to isolate and use different body parts independently would help us make them look better when used together.”

One of the other boys, who was just as tall as Zim, but with shorter auburn hair, shimmied over with a grin. “After our first class we all thought we were hot shit, so we went and got matching outfits,” he said, stealing a glance a group of girls who passed by.

Avery shook her head and decided that it was just going to be one more fact that she’d have to accept, and suggested that they get lunch and survey the rest of the grounds. The boys integrated her into the group and they meandered around in a large huddle of nine, watching bits of shows as they passed, bread bowls and turkey legs in hand.

“We should go watch the actual belly dance show, there’s one in fifteen at the main stage,” offered one of the boys, pointing in a vague direction. He was answered with a resounding mumble and they shuffled onward.

The group of them took up two front row benches, and were asked more than once if they were part of the show. The seats filled up quickly and extra people had to stand off to sides and in the back, creating quite the crowd between the trees and stage. They passed the time with showing off to each other, Avery keeping to herself as she watched them hold shimmying and hip drop contests. Zim ended up getting challenged by one of the other boys, who Avery learned to be Milo, to see who could bend the farthest backward while doing upper body undulations. The crowd seemed to appreciate the preshow entertainment.

Much to Avery’s relief, the performers didn’t keep them waiting, and were on stage promptly, giving a short lesson on who they were, what they did, and how to properly execute a zaghareet. Once they demonstrated, they encouraged the audience to try, and Avery found one more thing Zim could do to turn her on.

_If he doesn’t calm the fuck down I’m going to lick all that glitter off and regret it later._ She sighed and made herself pay attention to the performance, smiling as she watched them expertly roll and twist their hips. Ever since she was little, Avery had always had a certain amount of respect for belly dancers, mostly because she was an Irish dancer and was taught to dance rigidly.

As the afternoon dwindled into evening, the group dispersed and left the faire one by one. Zim led Avery out to his car just as the faire was closing, promising that she’d be able to sleep in the next morning. He untied and slid off her ghillies, wrapped them up, and helped her out of her dress, leaving her in tights, shorts, and sports bra.

“If I am ever asked to dance at another ren faire, make me say no.” She slouched in the seat and closed her eyes, holding her arms above her head.

Zim smiled and untied his hip scarf, tossed it in the back with the dress, and slid behind the wheel. “Okay, but you can’t tell me you didn’t have fun,” he said, mentally routing their way home before he pulled onto the main street, a dust trail following them for a few yards down the road.

She only grunted in response, writhing uncomfortably at the feeling of dried sweat on spandex. For the rest of the ride home, she was quiet, falling in and out of sleep more than a few times. When they pulled into the driveway, she was curled up against the car door with her head tucked under her shoulder as she slept.

It took some clever maneuvering, but Zim was able to get her out of the car and into the house without waking her. Changing her into something more comfortable was a little more complicated, but he did eventually get her tucked snuggly under the covers. After a quick shower, he bundled up in his favorite pair of pajamas and crawled in with her.

He didn’t doze that night, and his imagination kept curling his innards into knots. There were so many things to worry about, and he was never good at coping with stress, mostly because he didn’t feel it very often. His restless mind caused the darkness to drag on, and his churning stomach made it nearly impossible for him to stay put. When the sun finally began to rise, he was pacing back and forth in the living room, running his fingers through his wig.

_There’s too much going on at once… something is going to go wrong, I can feel it._


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I entirely like how this came out, but considering I was torn between about four different options, I'll take it. But I think I portrayed certain things really nicely, so that's a plus.

The weeks passed by a day at a time, the spring rain began to settle in and offer between one and two inches every few days, and the chill slowly moved on. Out of state migratory families came and went as they made their rounds between Canada and unknown towns in Florida. The festivities of St. Patrick’s Day wore off to make room for Easter, and the high school party invitations to the annual ‘Rabbit Fest’ held by one of the sports jocks began floating around.

“What do you mean you don’t want to go? You’re a Senior, you have to go at least once!”

Avery shoved the curly haired soccer player out of her face and shooed him off down the hall, rolling her eyes with Jade. “I swear if I get asked one more time, I’ll kill someone.” She shuffled down the hall to the cafeteria, Jade hot on her heels.

“You know, I can’t wait to graduate and proudly say I never went to one of those parties,” she added, looking degradingly down on the infamous harem of girls that were all giggling over their discrete invites.

They sat down, both with a huff, and picked through their lunches. As Jade groaned at her leftover spaghetti and measly bowl of fruit, Avery snickered childishly.

“What’re you laughin’ at? It ain’t like you got anything better.” Jade scrunched her nose up picked at her cold pasta.

“Actually,” the other rummaged through her bag and pulled out a heavily wrapped, freshly pressed Cuban sandwich. She smiled as the other glowered audibly, stabbing a meatball with her spork. “Jealous?”

Jade might’ve lashed out slightly at her friend had her boy toy not slid onto the bench right then. “You know what, I think I’ll just move in. Maybe then I can-…” she trailed off as her eyes found a brightly colored card twirling in the boy’s fingers. “What is that?”

Zim stole at a glance at the card, then held it up. “An invite to some party, I figured I might go this year just for shits and giggles.”

Avery turned to look at him, her eyes wide with disbelief. “Do you have any idea what goes on at those parties?” When he shook his head, she mimicked him slowly. “Oh my god, how innocent are you?”

He furrowed his brow in confusion, looking between her and Jade. “You live with me, you should know?”

When she realized he was honestly clueless, she couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s a fuck party, you leathcheann!” she spat, working her words around her giggles. The minute Jade joined in, their laughter was heard from the other side of the room, and they went until their lungs burned and someone shouted for them to ‘shut the hell up’.

The object of their ridicule was not so amused, promptly folding the piece of paper into an airplane and launching it impressively over the heads of the rest of the student body. “I guess maybe the name should’ve been a dead giveaway.”

Once the two were over their fit, normal conversation resumed until the bell summoned them to the last few hours of torture and mind numbing lectures. The last bell of the day was answered with extra fervor at the promise of the weekend and beautiful weather. It started out like any other weekend; talk of movie plans, party crashing, and illegal acts without parental supervision.

Zim made frozen pizza for dinner that night and Avery scoured the movie channels for romantic comedies, the two staying up just past midnight after a triple feature. Once he had tucked her into bed he slunk back out into the living room to work in his report, sifting through his rough draft to begin the tedious process of revision.

Avery tossed and turned, the unfavorable room temperature eventually rousing her from her state of unconsciousness. With the sleep still in her eyes she felt around for Zim, groaning irritably when she realized he still hadn’t come to bed. She huffed and clumsily threw the covers from her sweat coated body, making her way silently to the door, eyes slowly adjusting. When she peeked her head through the doorway, scanning the house for the other, her eyes widened and her breath hitched.

Zim was standing in front of the obscurely placed blank wall in the kitchen, which had always seemed misplaced, with some sort of tablet in his left hand. His right hand passed over the area of the wall before he pressed his palm against the surface. A backlight illuminated the outline of his fingers, a quiet beep affirming his handprint.

The girl desperately held her breath as she watched the small section of wall crease and disappear into the floor, Zim making it a few steps into the dimly lit hall before the wall closed him off again.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, her fingers gripping the doorframe tightly. She waited a second or two before slinking into the kitchen, standing cautiously in front of the awkwardly placed span of wall. It didn’t look any different than it had that morning, or the day before, or when she first saw it. It looked as peculiar and weird as ever, but in that moment it just about made sense.

Against her better judgment, and the voice in the back of her head saying that she had promised not to go snooping, she raised her hand and placed it gingerly against the wall at about shoulder level. When nothing happened she moved it around, wondering if there was a specific spot she was missing or if maybe it wouldn’t work for- _There we go…_

She stepped back quickly, her fingers gripping the wrists of her long sleeved sleep shirt. A hard swallow kept her place for only another second, as her feet we eager to press on. The hall was short, and slanted downwards at a slight angle, which felt entirely unnatural. Avery jumped when the wall closed behind her, cutting off the bright kitchen light.

It was dim and red, but she could easily see the end of the hall, which appeared to be empty. As she approached the back wall she looked down, noticing a defined circular crease in the floor. Taking a shot in the dark, she stepped on it, looking up and down and around before throwing herself against the back wall as a glass case closed around her.

“What the hell is this…” she said to herself, rubbing the last bits of sleep from her eyes so that she could better read the illuminated letters on the glass. It didn’t take her very long to realize she couldn’t understand them, but she did notice a vague list format, and that one line of characters was blue rather than bright pink. _Do I touch it? Is everything touch operated?_

Another wild guess proved to be somewhat correct, because she was suddenly lowering into the floor. Her hands flew to the glass in defense, her breathing doubling in speed before she realized she was _supposed_ to be moving. _Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

Seconds later the lift stopped and the glass tubing disappeared, letting her know she was to get off. Her steps were wary and silent on the cold metal flooring as she made her way through the dark corridor, the faint lights paying oddly on the strange floor and wall panels. She could hear his voice off the near distance, and she used that as her guide as best she could, trying to be as discreet as humanly possible.

The wide passage turned a corner and instantly opened up into a large, identically dimly lit circular room, plain except for the large monitor on the wall opposite her.

She made herself ease slowly past the edge of the wall so she could see, and bit her tongue to silence any breath or noise. At this point there was no way to avoid a confrontation to get back to the house level, but for whatever reason, the longer she could stay hidden the better. She couldn’t see him very clearly, but something was dreadfully… _off_.

“My Tallest, I don’t know how else to deal with this situation, I don’t exactly have authorization to just show up on their planet and demand assistance.” Zim’s rigid military stance wavered as he fought to stay calm.

It was then that Avery noticed the tall, thin, and exotically beautiful creature on the screen. She was assuming it was a she, mostly by the lavishly decorated eyes and curled antennae that twitched every few seconds. The green pigmented skin churned her gut a little, but her voice sounded like how the stars looked, far away without being distant.

“I did not say to do anything, soldier. Keeping your appearances up and off of their radar are enough for the moment, but I would want you to look a little farther into the future. Earth is in a precarious state of evolution, and as you’ve stated in your reports multiple times, they simply aren’t ready for other worldly intervention.” She blinked and set her mouth into a thin line, whatever hints of her having lips disappearing.

Zim sighed and let his shoulders sag slightly, not bothering to right them even after he had noticed his poor posture. “I understand, my Tallest.”

With a quick nod she dismissed the topic, moving onto one slightly more light hearted. “So I assume your little charade is still going on?” She smirked when he groaned, but grew serious before continuing. “You know you can’t play human forever,” she said tartly with a caring undertone.

“And how would you tell her?” He knew it was out of line and rude, and had anyone else used such a tone with Miyuki, they wouldn’t have had it dismissed out of favor.

“Oh for Irk’s sake, just _say_ it.”

“It’s not that easy, and you know it.”

“Well your waiting around isn’t making it easier.”

“My life is on the line here, you know that!”

“Of course I know that! But don’t you think that maybe there was a reason the Universe picked her? I doubt it was just to kill you off.”

“It wouldn’t surprise me, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time-“

“That’s enough!” She was glaring now, blue eyes narrowed dangerously as she fought to control her rising temper. “I will _not_ allow you to speak so lowly of yourself. It’s degrading and insulting. You know that you are my most valued consultant, a large part of this project relies heavily on you whether you like it or not.” She paused and permitted him a moment to breath before going on. “I need you to be happy, I need this to work out, but it won’t unless you act. I doubt you’d want her to discover this by accident.”

Zim shook his head and let his arms drop to his sides, breathing out slowly.

Avery slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground and out of sight, her hands shaking and her head spinning. _This is fucking unbelievable… and now everything makes sense… What the_ fuck _did I get myself into…_ She felt like she should be afraid of him, like she should run screaming in terror at the monster she’d been living with, and question everything about their “relationship”. But then the rational part of her brain kicked in, telling her that what he was or where he was from didn’t change the way he had treated her.

She’d been living with him for nearly two months and he acted as normal as any human she’d ever met, only better. He laughed with her, cried with her, fought with her, he _lived_ with her. And the way he did certain things or was unnaturally exceptional at others made so much sense, but it was almost hard for her to be angry with him. This was big, it was important, it was his whole life, and for whatever reason, she had been chosen to be a part of it.

Okay, so maybe the ‘being an alien from another planet’ bit would take some getting used to, but when she really thought about it, she couldn’t come up with a reason for her to feel any differently about him. He loved her and had so far proven it, so ultimately did it matter that he wasn’t human? Her childhood and personal life was already fucked up, so why shouldn’t her love life be?

She took a deep breath and stood back up, trying to tune back into their conversation. The hostility was gone, but she didn’t really care for the passive aggressive brooding either. Should she intervene? Whoever the ‘woman’ was that he was talking with seemed to be important, would it be rude? It was fairly safe to assume no matter what she did Zim would be angry that she had found her way into his… wherever she was. Maybe she should just-

“Hello~”

Avery screeched and threw herself in the opposite direction of the voice, putting her out in the open.

The room silenced, despite the ringing in Avery’s ears, and for a moment everything was utterly still. Zim lost all the air in his lungs and he could feel his skin crawl with gooseflesh, then his gut churned and he felt sick. He wasn’t looking at Miyuki, but he knew she was no less mortified.

“I shall contact you within the week. Be mindful.” She was gone promptly and the screen went black, leaving the two alone.

Zim took a deep breath, knowing he wouldn’t be able to control his anger or keep himself from lashing out. As he turned to face her, his eyes slitted and fists clenched, he snarled and took a few bold steps closer. “Dammit Avery! I had three rules, that was it!”

She flinched away from him, doing what she could to get on her feet and avert her eyes. “I know, I just-“

“How the hell did you get down here!” he demanded, forcing himself not to get any closer.

“I don’t know! I was half asleep!” she cried in defense, keeping her eyes on the ground and her hands over her ears. “I’m sorry!”

There were so many things he wanted to say, yell, and scream at her, even though he knew he’d only make her feel worse. But he was angry, and naturally at war with himself on the inside. She had broken her promise to him, which he by no means took lightly, and there was no chance to fake this all as a dream. But on the other hand, he did love her, she was tired, and either scared half to death or overwhelmed with guilt. Best not to say much of anything.

“Come on,” he said under his breath, placing a hand on the back of her neck to steer her down the hall. As he turned the corner he glared harshly at the small robot loitering around pointlessly. Avery was quiet the whole way back to the bedroom, where he pointed her inside and shut the door. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night, so he laid on the couch to go over a few needed conversations in his head, trying to figure out where to go from there.

His musings lasted him until the sun was well over the horizon, the orange lights pouring into the living room through the thin patio curtains. The clock under the TV read just a few minutes after eleven, and he thought maybe getting cleaned up might pass the time. As much as he didn’t want to bitch at Avery, he was eager to get it over with and desperately needed a distraction.

He was unfortunately able to grab a change of clothes from the closet and slip into the bathroom without waking her up, but dismissed the feeling and challenged himself to see how long he could keep his mind blank. For a thirty minute shower he figured ten minutes wasn’t so bad, sighing irritably as he slipped into his clean clothes.

When Zim opened the door, Avery was sitting up in the bed with her legs crossed and her head hung low. She didn’t turn to look at him, but she didn’t have to to know that he didn’t look human.  But she kept silent and her hands folded in her lap, hoping that he’d make the first move.

“Sleep well?” Part of him actually cared if she did or not, but mostly he was just using it to make things at least seem kind of normal.

Avery shook her head and darted her eyes over to look at him once. He walked over quietly and sat on the end of the bed in front of her, mimicking her posture. The air between them was tense and thick, neither really wanting to go on talking.

Eventually Zim decided that it’d best for him to start, since he knew what needed to be said better than she did. “Before I succumb to the overwhelming urge to yell at you, I need to know something, and I need the truth.” He watched her closely, noting how her shoulders stiffened and her head nodded faintly. “I have to know that you still love me.”

She relaxed ever so slightly, forcing herself to breathe and think about her answer. Of course it was obvious, but she needed to make him believe it. She made herself look at him, and her voice came out in a whisper. “Always.”

He closed his eyes and forced away a smile, more than relieved at her answer. But he then remembered what put him in such a position in the first place and he opened his eyes again, swallowing hard. “Then we have a lot to talk about. But I’ll let you pick where we start,” he said, offering her as much leeway as he could.

It took her a second to sift through her thoughts and find somewhere for them to begin. “Why me? What makes me any different than anyone else?”

Zim shifted on the comforter and tried to come up with an understandable explanation, biting his lip in thought. “I honestly, truly, don’t know. For whatever reason the Universe thinks that you’re the only one in existence that I can tolerate on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. So far it hasn’t been wrong.”

Avery looked confused and she really wanted to push for details. “So what does that mean, exactly?”

“It means that… if this doesn’t work out, or something ever happens to you, it won’t end well for me. I’d rather leave it at that for now.” He kept his expression blank as to not give anything away, motioning for her to pick something else.

“What are you doing all the way out here?” Maybe it was a dumb question because she could think of a few entirely viable reasons.

He sighed and looked down at his hands as he fiddled with his thumbs. “That’s kind of a long story,” he said quietly.

“We’ve got all day.”

Nodding finally, he thought of a decent place to begin. “Where I come from, perfection is essentially a life or death ideal. We’re bred to be soldiers, to be flawless machines of war, and if something goes wrong, we’re discarded. Usually it’s execution, but if you’re lucky you might qualify for drone work, or you might just be exiled.”

The other was silent for a moment, fully taking in the disgusting idea of the basis of his society. “So what happened to you?”

“Exile. Our previous leaders were tired of dealing with me, and admittedly I was more than a handful. I’m not sure why they didn’t just kill me, instead they sent me on a fake mission to an ‘unknown planet’. I guess I was supposed to die in space, but I got lucky.” He looked off to the side and shut his eyes, trying to even his breath. “Eventually they told me they had lied to me, and that if I ever left they’d kill me.”

“How would they know if you left?”

Zim looked up at her for a moment, slightly impressed at her attention to small details. “When we’re ‘hatched’ we’re given an external life support system that was designed to keep us dependant on the chemicals it fed us. It was disguised as a tachyon operated computer, which acted as the prominent second brain. It had tools and weapons, which was useful, and kept us distracted from the fact that our Tallests only wanted to remove our free will without us knowing. Originally it was thought that if it was detached for more than ten minutes you’d die. I proved the theory wrong.”

She listened intently, and was able to immediately put two and two together. “You really were dying that night, weren’t you.”

He nodded and continued. “I’ve been trying to wean my body of the hormones, but I still need a shot every two weeks. It _is_ working, just slowly. Eventually I won’t need it at all, and when it works I can teach others how to use it.”

“Are you ever going to be able to go back home?” It hurt to think about it, that he’d potentially leave her behind for any length of time. But if it was important to him, it needed to be important to her too.

He did smile at this, and bowed his head. “I hope so, Tallest Miyuki is trying to turn our civilization around, and she’s using my knowledge of your planet to create a basis for doing so. She says that when I’m done, I get to be reinstated and that she’d clear my record.”

Avery nodded, her face blank. “I hope so too, you must miss it.”

At this, Zim noticed her change in emotion, and could smell the cold flowing through her veins. The humans called it rejection, but he knew what she was feeling was more complicated than that. Did she think he’d just abandon her? “Not really, it’s not much of a home. I never wanted to be stationed on it. I’d rather be out exploring to be honest.”

She looked up, partially not believing his statement. “You make it seem so unpleasant.”

“It kind of is, truthfully. And you wouldn’t be comfortable there, so it’s not a living option. I wouldn’t trust anyone there to be around you anyways, we’re stereotypically hostile towards other species.” He watched her reaction closely to see if she’d picked up on his undertone, smiling with her as she couldn’t help herself. After a moment of silence he held out his arms, whispering to her quietly, “Come here.”

Avery’s muscles tensed quickly before she made them relax, rolling her shoulders to get her moving. She crawled into his lap and draped her legs over his, tucking her arms against her chest as her head rested on his shoulder. “I never meant to find out like this…”

Zim ran his fingers through her hair and shook his head. “I should’ve trusted you. It was wrong of me to make you wait.”

“But I really can’t hold it against you, I wouldn’t have done anything different,” she pulled his hand down and fiddled with his fingers, running her own over his oddly smooth skin. After a moment of silence, she let go of him and sat up straight. “Can you promise me something?”

“Anything,” he said, laying his hands in the empty space in his lap.

She turned her head just enough to look at him, her shoulders hunched and her knees pulled in. “No more secrets, okay?”

He smiled slightly, leaning in to rest his head against hers. “I promise.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure how I like the flow and speed of this one, but I figured I've kept you all waiting long enough. Almost to the good part~

“Okay okay okay, but what about the whole sugar diet thing?” Avery was sprawled on the couch while Zim mimicked her on the other side, a large platter of chocolate chip and snicker doodle cookies between them.

“I’m actually not sure, I never really liked biology much. But I think it has something to do with the chemical dependency factor. Even though I’m not on it, my body can’t physically change what I otherwise have to intake to survive. I do remember the chemical composition of glucose being important,” he explained, taking a cookie between each of his fingers.

Avery nodded and licked the melted chocolate bits from her fingers, her tongue swirling absentmindedly in thought. She hummed and tapped a treble reel with her foot, her eyes darting around the room for inspiration, a sly smirk playing on her lips. “How about reproduction?”

Zim scowled as the cookie in his mouth dropped slightly. He pulled it free and twirled it in the air. “Are you attempting to embarrass me?”

“Naturally, I’m almost convinced it’s impossible.” She smiled and started on another cookie, filling her mouth and motioning for him to continue.

He rolled his eyes as dramatically as he could so she’d be able to tell, and took his previously intended bite. “Well, that’s kind of complicated. They’ve tried to clone it out, but they haven’t perfected that part of the genome, so every so often it gets through. That’s one of the more common factors of defect classification, but nobody wants to pull down everyone’s pants to check.” He bit what was left of his eighth cookie in half for a breather before continuing. “As far as actual reproduction goes, it’s iffy and depends on a lot of different things. It’s beyond rare that an Irken will foster a healthy offspring. Usually they die before or soon after birth. So technically it’s a no, but that’s just to keep us from trying.”

“So you guys don’t even… you know… do the _do_?” She looked at him sideways, trying to catch traces of embarrassment.

He pulled the small bit of cookie away from his mouth and laughed, trying to breathe evenly to regain his composure. “Well, yes and no. I’ve never heard of an Irken having sex without possessing the emotional disambiguation defect, which happens to be the most common. But we treat it differently than humans do.”

She snickered and nodded her head, grabbing another handful of cookies. When he asked if she was making fun of him, she shook her head and held a hand over her mouth. “No, I was just ready for something along the lines of a ‘talk’ and you got all scientific instead and I thought it was funny,” she said, forcing down her giggles. “Anyways, you were saying?”

Zim sighed, a smile threatening his ability to make the conversation serious. “It’s mostly disgusting what your people have done to it. You use it to make money and gain power and harm other people. I mean, we’re not exactly the model of perfect ideals, but we have _some_ dignity.”

Avery didn’t look impressed, but nodded anyways to keep him on track. “Yeah, okay. So what do _your_ people use it for? Because it’s obviously not a population concern.”

“Well, ideally, even on your planet, you’re supposed to fall in love, and pledge to be to together forever and all that bullshit beforehand, right?” When he received acknowledgement he pressed on. “In that respect we really aren’t all that different, except that we save ourselves the distraction of ‘heartbreak’. Humans date around until they find whoever they think they’re supposed to be with. We wait until we meet that person before engaging in any sort of relations.”

At this she sat up, eyeing him skeptically. “And how do you know when you’ve found ‘the one’?” She held up her fingers for air quotes, pursing her lips.

He turned the cookie in his hands over a few times before answering. “We’re not really sure. Miyuki and I think it’s some sort of spiritual evolution thing we had before we decided to become evil little shits. Maybe it never really went away, but there’s still a lot of situational things we’re clueless about. We just… you know… _know_.”

“I’m still not convinced,” Avery retorted, smiling coyly.

“Okay, how about this. You know how when you seriously look someone in the eye for the first time and you sort of get a sense of who that person is, even if you don’t know you’re doing it? It’s like that.” He took his ninth cookie and bit it, keeping it close to his mouth.

The other put her hands up in defense. “Alright, alright. So where does the rest of it come in?”

At this, Zim could feel his cheeks grow slightly warmer, and he lowered his cookie while he rolled his explanation over his tongue a few times. “Typically we stay with and around other Irkens, so the chances of both partners feeling the same way is a lot higher. But we feel that ceremonies, like weddings, are really unnecessary and impersonal, but there is something to be said for some sort of finalizing _thing_. Basically we use sex the way you humans use marriage, except there’s no getting out of it.”

By now Avery was blushing, and she knew she wasn’t hiding it very well. She honestly was curious, but mostly only for her own personal reasons. “So what about after that? Does it turn into some taboo punishable by death?”

“Not exactly. Whether or not it’s used in a recreational sense depends on preferences and customs. I’ve heard of situations where both partners were Irken and never had sex again. I also had a really good friend of mine who was with a Vortian female and gave me the gruesome details _every time_. There really is no concrete answer,” Zim finished and nibbled thoughtfully at a particularly large chocolate chip, before stopping abruptly. “Why?”

Avery could feel her face burning at that point, and there was no point in trying to convince him she wasn’t at all flustered. “Well, I mean, I _am_ human and I do have _needs_ and maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’re like the walking embodiment of testosterone. There _is_ a reason the majority of the student body wants in your pants.”

Zim folded his arms and smirked. “Oh please, a few weeks ago you were afraid to touch me, and now you have _needs_? Well, sorry for not living up to your expectations, m’lady. Shall I be punished~?” He smirked and held his hands up defensively as she grabbed for the nearest pillow and threw it at him.

“Don’t be such an asshole! You make me sound easy,” she scolded, glaring at him as he looked at her.

“Oh on the contrary, you can be quite difficult-!” He laughed and braced himself as she lunged for him, trying to claw and bite and play dirty. Of course he could’ve just pinned her down in one swift move, but he thought maybe she’d appreciate him at least giving her some sort of chance.

They tussled for a moment, switching spots somewhere between the writhes and shoves. Avery tried to get her knees up to get an advantage, but he had her firmly against the cushions and she was left to squirm persistently beneath him. When she tried to protest his tongue invaded her open mouth, their lips pressing roughly against each other. With inhuman fluidity, Zim grasped both of her hands with only one of his and held them above her head, allowing him to rest on that arm and move the other freely.

She could feel him work his way in between her legs, using his free hand to help open her hips. Finally he pulled away for air and she was able to speak. “This isn’t what I had in mind!” she huffed, relaxing to focus all her energy into scowling at him. “You’re supposed to _take care of_ me when I’m needy, not _make_ me needy!”

He only smiled back and made no gesture to move. “I know, but now I can’t stop now anyway. Besides, I like it when you try to fight me,” he said quietly, dragging his tongue along the skin behind her ear.

Avery shuddered and groaned, internally fighting with herself on whether or not she wanted to fight her urges like she knew she should, or save herself the trouble and discomfort. Just as she decided to progress things along, his weight was gone and she was alone on the couch. “What the hell?”

Zim had already disappeared into his bedroom, and could be heard pulling open drawers. Eventually he found what he was looking for and returned to the living room. “Sorry, I was being summoned,” he said fiddling with the transparent tablet in his hands until Tallest Miyuki appeared onscreen. “You know, you said ‘within the week’, not the next day.”

“Yes, but I’m nosey,” she said definitely, her expression serious. “Now, tell me what happened, I’m anxious.”

He sighed and dropped the tablet slightly, looking at Avery. “I’m sorry, but this is going to happen a lot, so might as well get used to it.” Then he smiled widely at his Tallest. “Everything is fine~”

She scowled, her lips pursing together as the other took a seat next to the girl in question. “Oh don’t give me that, I want details.”

For the next few minutes Zim tried to convince Miyuki that everything had worked out better than he had expected while Avery smiled awkwardly at the foreign authority figure. When Miyuki was satisfied and bid the two blessings of happiness, Zim promptly ended the transmission and sunk into the couch.

“I get the feeling she’s going to call again later…” he groaned, tossing the tablet to the side. “We should go out so I won’t be here.”

Avery nodded thoughtfully, thinking about possible outings and adventures, smiling as one came to mind. “We could always go to that stupid party,” she suggested, looking at him sideways.

Zim narrowed his eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to go?”

She shrugged, rolling her eyes gently. “Yeah well, maybe if you and Jade are there it won’t be so bad.” After a moment of silence, her face scrunched up. “Wait, that’ll make her third-wheely, she won’t have a date.”

“Got it covered,” Zim replied instantly, leaning over to grab his phone off the coffee table. He scrolled through his contacts and dialed a friend, his call answered within a few rings. “Hey Damian, you wanna go to a party tonight?”

* * *

The moon was well into the sky, the yellow Christmas lights mimicking the stars as they became visible in the violet atmosphere. The street was full of cars, all belonging to the mass of teenage party attendees. The house was two stories of unnecessarily spent renovations and technological upgrades with an overbearing sense of cutting edge style. The backyard was no exception, sporting a furnished patio with a fireplace and mini bar, a pool heated by the over flowing hot tub, and a large open warehouse building off towards the back of the property where the DJ, laser lights, fog machine, and a large portion of hormonal teens were cooped up.

Zim stood over Avery and Jade to keep them off the radars of wandering boys with empty arms, keeping a keen eye on the street for his friend’s car.

“I don’t know, are you sure about this?” Jade swayed anxiously on her feet, biting her lip as she watched the growing crowd.

“Hey, I’m only returning the favor. Besides, he’s really into you, the least you could do is give him a chance,” Zim smiled down at Jade and nudged her shoulder comfortingly. As his eyes darted back to the crowd, he spotted the boy getting out of his car. He turned Jade’s gaze towards him and followed him with his finger. “See him?”

She nodded and rose up on her toes, moving his arm out of the way. “Oh hot damn, the boy is lookin’ fine!” Her cheeky smile widened as he approached, waving at the three of them.

“Yo~,” he greeted, his dark cheeks dusting with a faint red as his eyes landed on Jade. They smiled awkwardly at each other for a moment, both darting their eyes to Zim for confirmation every few seconds.

Said boy took Avery by the shoulders, intending to leave the two to their own devices, and guided her away from them, “You two have fun~!” He lead her passed the pool, under the decorated pergola, and across the empty span of yard to the main focus of the party. He kept her body close as they weaseled through the crowd, both ignoring the mix of disgusted and longing expressions.

The warehouse was decked out with the biggest speakers money could buy, a DJ to match, and enough neon and strobe lights to turn someone epileptic. Fog hung in the air and added a small element of mystery to the festivities as people mistakenly bumped into each other or rubbed up against the wrong person.

German house music blared and thumped as the mass of bodies bobbed and moved with the beat. The two slid through breaks in the crowd, quickly finding a spot big enough for them both, easily becoming part of the background to everyone else as they followed suit.

With Avery’s arms wrapped around his neck and the back of her head resting against his shoulder, they were overlooked by the others and left alone. Zim was quite thankful, having worried earlier about drawing attention to himself more so than usual, but as the music raged on he was able to blend in without effort.

Normally he wouldn’t be so affectionate in public either, but taking comfort in knowing he was invisible to everyone but her, he allowed his hands a little freedom. His fingertips traced down the length of her arms, one hand resting in the shallow of her breasts and other boldly sliding firmly between her legs. He pulled her flush against his body, rocking his hips into her as she gripped at the fabric of his jeans.

Any words that might have been said were lost in the noise, both having to rely on the other’s body language. The loud thumping of music dulled every sense but touch, and the smallest bits of contact sent out tingles and prickled flesh. Their hearts pounded in their chests as heat radiated between their bodies, blood flowing far north and even farther south. Somewhere between the struggles of reawakening their senses and failed communication, their lips met almost by accident, but soon turned into desperate attempts to shove affection as far down each other’s throat as possible.

It might’ve looked a little rough to the immediate crowd, but they both knew there was a dominant underlying expression of simple enjoyment and comfort. A handful of songs later the music was too loud and the fog invaded their lungs, but the decision to duck out was obvious between them, and soon they were greeted with cool, fresh air.

As they passed the pool on their way into the house, Avery caught sight of Jade and Damian in the hot tub. She grabbed Zim by the arm and pulled him out of sight, pointing at the two discreetly. “Look,” she whispered, smiling as they laughed.

“Aww, look at the happy couple~” he remarked, smirking triumphantly.

They watched for a moment, and as the two moved to exit the overcrowded water, Zim led the other into the closed in patio kitchen. Avery weaved through the group of teens and located the food bar, quickly filling a small bowl with mini garlic bread sliced lavishly spread with spinach artichoke dip, and grape jelly chili sauce meatballs. She took a seat on the end of the bar while Zim pulled up a chair, the two watching the door intently.

Avery twirled her toothpick around in circles while she waited, leaning over to the other. “So when they walk in, what do we do? Awkward creepy staring or pretend we don’t see them?”

Zim smiled and opted for awkward creepy staring, propping his feet up comfortably on the coffee table by the window. As the targets meandered into the room, they were greeted with a pair of “I know what you two are doing” grins.

“And what do you think _you two_ are doin’? Avery don’t give me that, I know what’s goin’ on!” Jade popped her hip and wiggled her finger at her best friend, her eyes narrowing unamusedly.

The other two gave up the act and settled for small talk instead, Avery waving off Jade’s accusations of ‘too far too soon’. Eventually the conversation drifted slightly into the gutter, threatening to fall headfirst where there was no innocence.

None of them were technically innocent, even though they were _all_ virgins. But they knew all of the little details and slang and medical terms, ranging anywhere from sex to drugs to alcohol. Zim always blamed it on the media, and how it was integrated into everyday lives far too much, but Avery and Jade didn’t have much of an argument because they didn’t really care.

Halfway through Damian’s story of how his mother gave him ‘the talk’, Zim perked up and whipped his head around, ignoring the others. He spotted a Senior slipping through the glass door out onto the patio with the most intriguing drink swirling in his palm. It smelled like irresponsibility wrapped in regret and coated in ‘you won’t give a shit until morning’, and he absolutely needed one.

Without so much as a word to anyone, Zim pushed himself to his feet and disappeared into the house, his eyes scanning for anyone with a mixer in their hand. Seven seconds later he felt the taste of victory in his mouth, returning to the group with a grin of satisfaction. As he sat down Avery narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, popping her hip to get his attention.

“You do realize you have to _drive us home_ , right?” she asked, trying to sound as condescending as possible.

Zim nodded tartly and sipped at the candy red martini, his toes curling and skin crawling at the odd sensation. “Besides,” he continued, lowering the drink from his lips. “You know what alcohol doesn’t do to me, I’ll be fine.”

Maybe he truly had believed he would’ve been alright, but eight martinis later he began to act a little funny. Most drunk people act either like idiots or assholes, not rigid testosterone factories that look like they might shove somebody against a wall. However, overlooking that, they were all quite impressed at how well he could handle is liquor.

“Yo, I think you need to head home, you’re not lookin’ so hot,” Damian offered, slightly worried that his friend might cause a scene.

A shiver rippled down Zim’s back but he nodded his head, which unfortunately was perfectly clear. “Yeah, you’re right,” he said, the back of his throat rolling just barely. With a fist bump goodnight, he located the redhead and dragged her to the car.

“Hey!” she protested, groaning at the notion of them leaving as the car came into sight. “What, those martinis finally catch up?”

“Yeah, and I need to be home, _now_.”

She didn’t like the tone of his voice at all, but figured she’d be better off shutting up rather than pestering or picking on him. So she slid into the car quietly, and waited for him to pull out onto the vacant backstreet. Eventually his hardened glare and stiff muscles egged on her nerves, figuring one small inquiry couldn’t hurt. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer right away, but what he replied with wasn’t really much of an answer at all. “If I make any move on you at all, kick me as hard as you can.”

Her face scrunched up in discomfort, but quickly figured out what was going on and why he had made such a request. Apparently he was a horny drunk but was coherent enough to feel that he’d rather wait until entirely sober. With respect to his wish she obliged, agreeing but hoping she wouldn’t actually have to go through with it.

As the car pulled into the drive, Zim cut the engine and slid out, closing the door behind him with a little more force than was necessary. Avery cautiously followed suit, keeping a fair distance behind him to help minimize room for error.

The kitchen light was the only thing on, and Avery barely saw him disappear into the back bedroom. She slinked in through the door and peered into the bathroom, one hand raising to rub the back of her neck as her cheeks flushed almost painfully.

Running water echoed through the silent house as Zim stripped his clothes, disregarding his usual clean habit to fold them and put them away. The glass door opened and he stepped inside, sighing loudly as gooseflesh rose on his skin from the hot water. Fog began to crawl upwards from the edges of the door, and he peeked over to the girl standing just at the edge of the shadows, watching him.

The blood in her cheeks boiled when he gave her a nod to join him, hesitating as she recalled his request. Figuring she could still keep her word, her hands dipped beneath her shirt to pull it off her shoulders. The burning in her cheeks sent waves of warmth down her neck as she continued to undress, keeping her eyes away from the other. She was going way out of her comfort zone, but the sooner she got it over with, the better.

She tried not to think of how self conscious she was, or how many of her bodily flaws she could see in her mind, but instead just stepping through the door and sitting on the small marbled ledge in front of him. Her eyes trailed down her legs and she watched her feet point and flex.

“I’m sorry.”

Avery shifted her eyes upwards a little, but kept them away from him gaze. “What for?” She knew what he’d say, he had a gentlemanly way of apologizing.

“For the way I started to act, I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable,” he said softly, running his fingers over his antennae. He couldn’t really see her eyes, but he could tell she was looking him over. The way she shook her head slowly, never taking her eyes off his skin. Dropping his arms he took a tentative step forward, gently reaching his arms out.

She tensed and raised her knee and held up her arms, ready to defend if need be. But he brushed against her skin and ran his fingers along the back of her hands, letting her know he was fine. When she relaxed and leaned into him, he dipped his head and pulled her chin up, sliding his other hand around her waist as their lips met. He could feel her rise up to push into him, and he couldn’t help but slide between her legs and push against her just as hard.

Avery leaned back and clamped her knees at his hips, running her fingertips along his neck, down his chest, and along his stomach. She rubbed circles with her thumbs over the gently protruding bones of his hips before ghosting them lower, smiling as he groaned and arched his back.

“I don’t think now is a good time…” he breathed, bracing himself against the glass behind her as her nails grazed along his skin. It certainly wasn’t because he didn’t want to, but he just hadn’t had the time to explain everything.

She didn’t seem to think the moment was quite so ill prepared, but did stop and look up at him. “Why not? Because I’m not ready to make my own decisions?”

He shook his head and stood up a little straighter, moving his hands onto the marble at either side of her hips. “No, of course not, I just-“

“I love you, okay?” Her voice was stern but assuring, and she tried to make her eyes convey the same as he returned her stare.

Zim would never question the words of someone he trusted, but to him the situation was too delicate. “If we do this now, how can you promise me you won’t regret it later?”

“I just did.”

It took a moment for her words to sink in before he realized what she meant. Admittedly, he still wanted to take the time to be absolutely sure she knew everything the decision entailed. However, he did believe that she knew enough about her own feelings to be able to confidently make her own choices.

He stood up fully, keeping his eyes trained on hers. “Then do you trust me?”


	14. Cha

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've left this cliffhanger for too long, I'm sorry. Also, if you don't like smut then skip the beginning and then most of the back half, because that's what most of this is. Not sure that I really like it though? I guess that's up to you all anyway, so I hope at least you guys like it~

Avery gripped the sheets as blood forced its way through her veins, desperately trying not to arch off the bed. The touch was foreign in more than a few ways, and it was hard for her to relax.  She never was fond of being touched excessively by other people, but the texture of his fingertips sent sparks through her nerves. Her lips were caught in her teeth as she fought to keep quiet, and as the seconds passed by it became more obvious that it was only going to get harder.

 

The problem was, Zim was being as loving and gentle as he knew how, and he still felt as though it wasn’t enough. “Avery…”

 

She sat up on her elbows and shook her head, forcibly slowing her breaths. Her eyes drifted up to meet his, the worried expression making her gut churn in the unpleasant sort of way. “I’m sorry, it’s not you, it’s – “

 

He closed the gap of her lips with a finger, giving her a small smile of encouragement. “If you need to stop, then just tell me, okay?” As she shook her head again he sighed, not wanting to fight her, but also not wanting this moment to sour what he had planned.

 

“I promise I’ll be fine, you just… you just have to be patient with me.” Avery ducked her head and bit her lip, hoping that she hadn’t ruined it so soon.

 

Zim put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up, cupping her cheek to kiss her easily. The way she relaxed and melted against him allowed him to more easily trust her judgment. When he pulled away his expression became stern, but not unkind. “I’m going to pace this as slowly as I physically can, but once I get started I cannot guarantee that I’ll be able to stop.”

 

She held her breath for an extra second before exhaling, thinking carefully about her situation. If they continued she might get flustered and shy too late, but if she turned the opportunity down her mind would only make her regret it in her dreams.

 

With a final affirmation to continue he laid her back down on the bed and moved over her, careful not to put weight on unwanted regions. Their kisses slowly deepened and became more rushed, Avery finally able to allow herself to get into a mood.

 

Her hands moved cautiously and timidly over his body, pushing through the fabric of his clothes only enough to feel the faint ripple of muscle. The shallow breathing from the other encouraged her to go farther, dipping her fingertips under the hem of his uniform shirt to feel his skin. It was softer than she’d remembered, but she pushed her hands upwards along his sides and stomach, the bunching up of fabric stopping her hands over his chest.

 

The ghosting of her hands had provoked him to further his own ministrations, forcing her legs farther apart so he could sit comfortably between them. He continued to hover, but moved his kisses from her mouth to the dip of her neck while his hands gripped at her hips. Then he felt her nails down his back, and it sent white flickering spots across his vision, and he couldn’t help that he forcefully ground his hips into hers, or hissed hatefully at how he had to contain himself.

 

The two of them moved together, mirroring each other’s movements where they could. The pace was finally picking up a little, and the tension was nearly nonexistent. It was finally right on track with how Zim had planned it, and relief let him calm down enough to enjoy the moments.

 

Until the sirens went off through the house.

 

Any other time he wouldn’t have hesitated to move, but he physically had to tear himself from the bed and beat down his instincts. The red glow and deafening pitch helped, and he was able to force his legs to carry him into the living room where the monitor displayed a rotating Irken insignia.

 

He barked at the base AI in his terse language, demanding to know what had disrupted the evening. As the monitor came to life, his gut sank with a mixture of slight fear and agitation. The 100 mile radius barrier he had put in place years ago had been disrupted. They were in his airspace. And they knew he was there.

 

However, the multitude of decades he had spent training threw his mind into its calm, collective state so he could work. He brought the surface of the glass coffee table to life, interacting with the computer interface to begin taking action. Adrenaline pumped itself through his muscles, and somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he smiled at the long lost feeling of being engaged in frantic situations.

 

Avery hobbled over to sit next to him, her hands blocking as much of the noise as they could. She watched him diligently, not understanding enough of the problem to feel anything but annoyed. The 3D modeling he was toying with reminded her of something out of a comic book movie, and for a split second she was excited that such a thing even existed.

 

**_Sir. The ship has entered the 50 mile sector, and is hailing the Base Location._ **

 

The blaring noise silenced and the lights returned to normal, but Zim’s facial expression never changed. “Avery, cover your eyes.”

 

It wasn’t a question, and it wasn’t a suggestion. In fact, she’d never heard him sound so serious, and she couldn’t do anything but nod and move her hands from her ears to shield her eyes. Usually she’d be far too nosey to just comply, but somehow, she didn’t want to know this time.

 

Zim gave another order and then stared blankly at the screen, his jaw clenching when the transmission went through.

 

He had always though they were awful to look at, with their gangly frame, sickly looking skin, and empty black almond eyes. But knowing the one he was staring down was within range of his Base made him exceptionally uneasy, though not any less of a trained silver tongue.

 

The other spoke first, its slit of a mouth opening only enough to adequately let sound pass through. They spoke in a language the Irkens did not bother to learn, so the clicks and chirps it made were translated onscreen instead.

 

_‘You do not belong. Not your place.’_

 

On a related note, he also hated how they never said anything in a complete sentence, instead conveying basic thoughts or simple ideas in awkward chunks of words. It made understanding the specifics of their speech more than a little difficult.

 

Zim replied in Irken once, and only to make himself perfectly clear. He was in no mood to cooperate. “Whether or not you leave my airspace is up to you, but I can guarantee you will not reach my location.”

 

_‘Here longer. Trespasser.’_

 

“And your people do nothing but lie and take advantage of those weaker than yourselves. But you and I both know that Irkens far surpass Reticulans.”

 

_‘You are same. Tell not what you have not done.’_

 

At this point Zim was getting ill looking at the misshapen being and decided it was time to end the conversation. “I’ll make you a deal then. If you leave my parameters, I’ll pretend this never happened. But if you come within ten miles I swear on the grave of my loyalty I will blow you out of the sky.”

 

The other was silent for a moment, to which Zim was sure it was relaying information to whoever was in charge.

 

_‘Not last we speak. Time is scarce. Not easily made gone.’_

 

The screen went back to the parameter diagram, showing the little red blip turning and leaving, and the Irken fell against the back of his couch, taking deep, even breaths. He could feel his skin crawl and his antennae twitch restlessly. His eyes shifted around the room and settled on Avery, who was still faithfully complying with his request. He reached over and pulled her hands away, then stood and gathered her in his arms.

 

“Is everything going to be okay?” she asked, unknowingly failing to hide her fear. A nod was all she received, so she didn’t bother to fight as he carried her into the lower levels of the base.

 

She was placed in a chair in the back of his communications rooms, where he had put Gir in charge of distracting so he could converse with Miyuki. Eventually the girl fell asleep and he was able to speak openly without trying to hide certain pieces of information.

 

“I fear that this will now rapidly escalate, especially since you threatened them. You know better than anyone that when they’re provoked they’re relentless.” Miyuki scowled disapprovingly, her eyes narrowed and her lips pressed together.

 

Zim nodded, but didn’t let her tone sway him. “I understand, My Tallest, but the danger would not have lessened otherwise. The priority of the issue has not changed, we still need to figure out how we’re going to remove them from this sector without destroying the human race.”

 

The other rubbed circles into her temples, sighing heavily at both the severity and complexity of the situation. “Then I suggest you contact those that reside in the Pleiades. I’ll get there as soon as I can with the Armada, but the fate of this planet is on your shoulders. You are her last chance.”

 

* * *

 

When Avery opened her eyes she was nestled comfortably under the comforter in their bedroom, with Zim looking contently at her from his side of the bed. His smile was small, but it was contagious, and she grinned back.

 

He cooked her breakfast, French toast with strawberries and coffee, while he let her watch her favorite movie. When they took their shower he let her use extra bubbles, and he made her hair do silly things to make her laugh. After he dried her off she let him dress her up in something especially cute, and then returned the favor. They playfully yelled at each other over competitive video games until lunch, where he insisted on making her favorite pizza, and then resumed their childish feud. As the sun began to set he took her outside and let her ask any questions about him she wanted, giving honest and complete answers. When the stars came out he showed her all the places he had been and all of the places he promised to take her one day.

 

As they returned inside for dinner, Avery dragged him to the bedroom and made him sit. She looked at him and frowned, seeing the lackluster sheen in his eyes. “What’s going on?”

 

Zim was silent as he bowed his head, knowing there was nothing he could say to make her believe he was alright, because he wasn’t. He was terrified and exhausted and he had never felt so helpless in his entire life. The tears fell freely down his cheeks as the grip he had on his resolve faltered. He had never allowed himself to become weak in the presence of another, and the feeling made him only cry that much harder.

 

Avery’s blood grew cold at the sight of him, the strongest man she’d ever met reduced to tears over something she knew she had no control over. She crawled into his lap and pulled him against her, clutching at his uniform as his sobs grew louder.

 

“I’m so sorry,” he said, his arms winding around her waist as he held onto her as hard as he could. “I was supposed to be able to protect you and I can’t.” He whined and trembled and cried as she continued to hold him, rubbing one antennae softly as she kept quiet.

 

Soon his sobs quieted to whimpers and he pulled her away, cradling her shoulders as he looked into her eyes. When she tried to smile it only tore at his heart and the tears grew hot and uncomfortable. “I love you,” he whispered, and he swore he’d never meant anything he’s ever said quite so passionately.

 

She smiled wholeheartedly and cupped his face in her hands, pulling him close to whisper in response, kissing him gently as his body continued to shake. She didn’t pull away until he had calmed, and her faint smile never fell. “It’s not over yet, and there’s no one I’d trust my life with other than you. As long as we’re still here we still have a reason to fight. This is as much your home as it is mine, and I’ll be damned before I let you give up on me.”

 

His eyes welled again and he nodded, burying his head in her shoulder as she pulled him down with her. He held her and silently assured himself that she was right and that he’d still do everything he could to protect her and give her a future.

 

To him, she was his whole world and as long as he had her he’d be happy, but he knew that it wasn’t enough for her, and he understood. Making her happy was the greatest joy he would ever be given, and even though it was hard, he knew without a doubt it was more than worth fighting for.

 

A relief washed through his veins like he’d never felt and in an instant all the pain was gone. The heartache, the churning in his gut, the throbbing in his head, melted away. And the only thing that was left in its place was a burning that flared with every twitch of her body. She watched him as he moved, their eyes locking before he dipped his head and kissed her, moving her gently onto her back.

 

The way her body softened against his, and the way she breathed against his lips made him shudder. His hands trembled happily as he moved them under her shirt and over her bare skin. Her breath hitched as she arched into him, her hands shyly edging his shirt upwards. He smiled and sat up, moving her hands rest on his hips while he removed the obscuring fabric.

 

Avery watched him in the dim light, blushing at how his muscles moved under his skin, how his lithe body arched as his arms rose, and at how invitingly her legs were open before him. Her face burned as he loomed over her, and at how his brilliant red eyes sparkled in the dark, but even though she was nervous, she wasn’t uncomfortable. When he slid his hands under her butt, hooking his fingers over the hem of her jeans, smiling in question, she nodded and shivered as the cool air passed over her legs.

 

As he leaned over, skillfully sliding her camisole over her shoulders as he did, she met him for a kiss and slid her hands over his back and sides. She clutched at him as her nipples puckered, his body heat radiating over her sending chills down her spine. Her fingertips slid under his pants, and he sighed as she moved them around to his naval, her thumbs playing with the button as he wriggled impatiently.

 

Zim hissed as she helped him squirm out of his confining jeans, keening into her neck as he pressed himself more fully into her hips. He kissed her collarbone and eased himself downwards, flicking his tongue over the puckered buds. She mewled and pulled him closer, grinding into him as he sucked and nibbled on the darkening flesh. He continued kissing a trail over her stomach, flicking his tongue into her bellybutton as he moved downwards.

 

She quivered as he slid off her lace-trimmed panties, adding them to the pile on the floor. He glanced up at her once, his eyes shining playfully, before he leaned in and boldly slid his tongue over the slick skin between her legs. She cried softly, her hips rolling with the curling of his tongue as he teased the small bundle of nerves. A few minutes in he had her legs shaking and her abs clenching, and he pulled away against her protest.

 

Avery clenched at the comforter as he absently licked his lips, her eyes scanning over his body as he rejoined her for another kiss. Her hands traced patterns over his chest and stomach, resting finally on the waistband of his boxers, the hitching of his breath encouraging her to ease them down and over his hips, smiling as he worked them all the way off.

 

It was one of the few things she was innocently curious about, simply because of the obvious anatomical differences, but her imagination had a way of embarrassing her for it. However, she wasn’t going to let her childish mind get the best of her when they were already this far. As she ran her fingers over his hips and along his legs, mostly just to buy her a few seconds, she began to more fully notice the differences between them.

 

His hipbones poked out the same way hers did, but they were more narrow and long, however helping to accentuate his waist somehow. His spine dipped in a little farther above his pelvis, and she vaguely began to wonder about other trivial things. But with another nibble of encouragement, she continued and decided that being bold was the only way to go about it.

 

Though, her brows furrowed at what she found, or rather, didn’t find. As she slid her fingers between his legs she realized that his anatomy was more than a little different than what she otherwise would have expected.

 

Zim laughed to himself as she paused in confusion, promising that he was, in fact, a guy. He buried his face in her collarbone and used one hand to guide her nimble fingers, telling her it was okay to explore a little bit.

 

After a moment her curiosity got the better of her and she indulged, quickly finding out that on the outside, he more closely resembled herself. However, a little bit of gentle poking and prodding rewarded her with confirmation that he most definitely was _not_ female. A finger had slipped inwards, causing Zim to stiffen and whine, and was met with the tip of something slick and flexible.

 

Avery’s face burned as she did her best not to shy away, trying to force her mind back into its analytical mindset. The more she touched and moved her fingers around on the inside, the harder it pushed to be on the outside, until it forced her hand out from between his legs, resting lightly in her palm.

 

The other hissed and clenched at the pillow beneath her head, the cool air mixing with her warm skin making him twitch uncomfortably in her hand. She, however, was suddenly fascinated and rather entertained at how she could twirl the tapered end between her fingers. The slick coating took a little getting used to, but her mind began formulating a list of questions she’d never ask about what and how and why it was the way it was.

 

Zim squirmed impatiently while he forcibly shoved aside his animalistic instincts and desires, knowing that they’d only ruin the moment. He sighed when she removed her hand, allowing him to keep the pace moving. For a split second a joyous sigh went off in his head as he was relieved that she hadn’t been… _offended_ by his anatomy.

 

For a few minutes they simply moved with each other while their lips locked. He took his fair share of time to play around with her, partly using the opportunity to test her comfort limit. She was a virgin and he knew, and that was one of only two reasons he was able to force himself to draw the whole thing out.

 

She squirmed and bucked against his hand, gripping his shoulders as she slowly let herself relax underneath him. Her muscles spasmed as he repeatedly grazed over something internal and it was the most intense feeling she’d ever experienced. Eventually she had to pull away from him, not wanting to peak before she was ready.

 

He took it with good grace and decided that the ‘stalling’ had gone on long enough. He could smell the hormones drifting from her skin, and it set his insides of fire, a scorching heat radiating along his length. The idea of him being able to let go and indulge his instincts, to allow them the freedom to take what they wanted and control the most primal part of his DNA, was almost enough to sway his concentration.

 

Their kiss quickly became sloppy and desperate as Avery finally succumbed to her needs, unconsciously tilting her pelvis and widening her hips. She could feel him move his hands to help find her entrance, but her breathing remained even, though heavy. Her eyes fluttered as the tip of his finger dipped inside, doing what she could to keep her hips from rocking as he guided himself in.

 

Avery groaned internally as he stopped, being less than in inch of the way in. He pulled away slowly and hazily made eye contact, his skin tingling at the sight of her.

 

“This might hurt, but only for a minute, okay?” he said quietly, positioning himself carefully as he hovered over her. When he received an affirming nod, he rested one hand on the bed and wrapped the other arm underneath her hips. With one more glance of assurance, he forced himself the rest of the way in, fast and hard.

 

The girl cried out sensually, fisting the sheets and holding onto his forearm as her knees clamped at his sides. Her shoulders quivered, and the feeling traveled down her arms and made her hands tremble against him. She let the brief shock settle into a feeling of tight fulfillment, something that she knew wouldn’t subside until he began moving. A few seconds passed before she relaxed back onto the bed, gently moving her hips to see if it would spark another nerve.

 

A quick glance upwards, seeing the strain on his face as she felt his body quiver, let her know that his own gentleness was literally tearing him apart on the inside. It made her face flush at the idea that he just simply needed to be allowed to let go, and that he was too much of a gentleman to do so without her approval. She reached a hand up to pull him closer, kissing him roughly enough to convey her understanding and consent.

 

He dug his claws into the sheets and stole one more moment of calmness, “Tell me if it hurts.”

 

She whispered a promise before making her body go completely still, allowing him to fully take control and do whatever he needed. The breath came out swiftly as he pushed her back against the bed, his eyes slitted lustfully as he slowly pulled out. Avery barely had time to inhale before he forced himself back in with just as much vigor.

 

The pace quickened and Zim never showed any signs of letting up on the sheer intensity of his thrusts. His breath came out in shallow huffs that prickled Avery’s skin, and her every cry only encouraged him to be that much more forcefully intrusive.

 

Her voice, her pheromones, the way she rocked her hips with his, just being able to _feel_ that she was enjoying his sensual harshness made the physicalities so much more pleasurable. He lowered himself over her, one hand forcing her hips against his, the other clutching fistfuls of her red hair as he felt the tiny rolling spark begin to flash between his legs.

 

Heat built up quickly between them as the two neared climax, Avery mewling loudly for too long to mean anything other than she wouldn’t be satisfied until she was torn apart by his passion driven assault. Her cry had him glaring distantly with pain of too much pent up sexual frustration, his throat rolling as he growled with more animalisticality that the other thought he should have been capable of.

 

In all, the moments went by, one right after the other, the night dragged on blissfully as the emotions danced between brutal lust, building need, and the deepest feeling of unhindered love that could ever exist between two living things. To her it meant that she would have someone she trusted to experience the rest of her short life with, without having to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders alone. To him it meant that he had the most precious thing to fight for that he would ever know in this life or the next, and that her unconditional affection was a truth and constant within his life that he could always count on.

 

Breathing turned into panting, sweat glistened in the low light of the moon that shone in through the windows on either side of the bed. Frantic and sensual motions relaxed into even, yet forceful, thrusts, and the moans and cries rose in volume and desperation. The previous minutes had passed in heated indifference, but now the build-up was nearing its peak and every moment counted.

 

Zim continued to loom over Avery, one arm supporting her hips, the other fisting the sheets behind her head. His throat vibrated with a low, rolling growl, aiding in the release of pent-up tension as he hunched farther over and began to let go of his restraint. He pulled Avery closer and brought his lips to her ear, “Do you trust me?”

 

She dug her nails into his skin as his thrusts continued, her voice echoing a vague questioning plea as her legs trembled around his hips. When he repeated himself, more urgent and forceful, she sighed a ‘yes’ as her body began to clench and lock in place.

 

In four thrusts her mouth opened and cried as the rest of her clenched and spasmed rhythmically through her orgasm. In another eight his teeth were wrapped possessively around the side of her open neck, and his chest was rolling with a continuous baritone growl. Six more after that his hands grabbed at her shoulders and locked her in the shallow of his hips, his cry muffled against her skin, tapering off very slowly into heated snarls.

 

The room stilled, and the only movement was the flow between them and the blood that rose to Avery’s cheeks as the warmth pooled deep in her naval. After no more than a minute her hands moved to coax him away, to give her room to stretch her sore muscles.

 

He held tighter, the growl – which hadn’t stopped – raising slightly in pitch. “ _I’m not done_.”

 

She stilled, and could still feel the rhythmic pulse between her legs. Her cheeks burned, but she relaxed as much as she could and clutched at his shoulders.

 

Long after she began to feel warmth pool under her legs he finally collapsed on top of her, his breathing deep and ragged around her neck and through his teeth.

 

Sleep came easily.


End file.
